First syndicate investment by members of Wild Blue Cohort 

Members of Wild Blue Cohort, the pioneering new business angel investment network in West London, have completed their first investment as a syndicate.

HomeTouch is an online marketplace that connects people looking for care with self-employed carers. Despite over 7,000 care agencies in the UK, families struggle to find high quality, affordable home care for elderly relatives. HomeTouch allows care seekers to perform localized searches of carers and filter for specific care experience as well as watch video profiles and read customer reviews.

Eight members of the Wild Blue network have joined forces to finance the growth of HomeTouch and one will join the company’s Board. The venture presented their plans to Wild Blue just over two months ago and members have chosen to finance almost the entire round.

HomeTouch was founded by Dr Jamie Wilson, a former NHS dementia specialist from West London who trained as a psychiatrist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Imperial College. Dr Wilson was a member of the London Business School incubator and HomeTouch was part of the Healthbox accelerator, an initiative supported by BUPA and Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital Charity. HomeTouch started operating in December 2014. More at http://www.myhometouch.com/

HomeTouch founder and CEO Dr Jamie Wilson says: “The investment by members of Wild Blue will allow us to develop and grow our marketing, improve our search algorithms and expand our coverage across the Greater London region. The engagement of Wild Blue investors has been remarkable due to their diverse range of experience across internet services, social impact and consumer goods. Their local sensibility sits well with the localized matching and search offered by our service.”

The founder of Wild Blue, David Barrie says: “We are delighted that members have come together to invest in the future success of HomeTouch. It is the sixth deal that our network has closed in just eighteen months. We are building a community of investors local to West London. The private market for home care is valued well in excess of £2bn. Our members are inspired by a local entrepreneur’s visionary approach to that opportunity.”

Wild Blue Cohort is a network of private ‘angel’ investors who want high quality, early-stage and start up businesses to thrive and prosper in West London. Wild Blue started operating in Spring 2014 with financial support from the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. More information is available from David Barrie, Founder & CEO – 07775945302 – and at http://bit.ly/wildblu. Twitter: @wildbluekc

KIDS BREAK ‘VIRTUAL’ GROUND FOR URBAN ESCAPE DEVELOPMENT

AMF Fastigheter brings virtual reality to real estate with Minecraft

Stockholm, today [27 August 2015] – AMF Fastigheter has partnered with Microsoft to launch the construction for its 130,000sqm Urban Escape Stockholm regeneration, through a unique gaming collaboration with Minecraft and a group of schoolchildren.

Challenging convention, it was the ten-year-olds who had the honour of marking the ground breaking ceremony, when they used virtual TNT to ‘flatten’ a part of  the city centre district in the Minecraft world. This all took place as contractors began construction work on the real site nearby - the first time a property development has been launched simultaneously in both virtual, and literal reality.

The students from Loviselund School in Hässelby, Stockholm were then challenged to design and rebuild their own unique interpretation of the Urban Escape Stockholm neighbourhood in Minecraft – built by online gaming community Team ProPain.

Karolin Forsling, Chief Development Officer at AMF Fastigheter said: “We believe in collaboration in the creative process, and as developers of urban spaces we want to engage with Stockholm’s ‘future talents’, the people who will live, work and play in this city. By partnering with Minecraft, we are giving young people a chance to shape one of Europe's fastest growing cities and we’re inspired by how they have challenged convention and sparked new ideas.”

AMF Fastigheter will be taking inspiration from the students’ designs in the final delivery of elements such as the hotel and the Urban Escape Rooftops – Stockholm’s first public garden space built in the skies, connecting three buildings at roof-level.

At the launch, Joke Palmkvist, Business Unit Manager of schools and higher education at Microsoft, spoke about how games like Minecraft give students opportunities to develop new skills in an environment that also challenges them creatively. She said, “Minecraft is a natural bridge to working with coding in the classroom, which is a prerequisite for students to understand the digital world. Any of these students could be one of the creators of the next Minecraft, Snapchat or Spotify.”

Set for completion in 2019, Urban Escape Stockholm is championing a new approach to city development in the heart of the Swedish capital, with 130,000sq m of mixed use space anchored by two hotels and connected at sky-level by a unique rooftop gardens concept. The scheme will comprise five buildings, four streets and two squares – including a shopping centre, two hotels, office and retail space, restaurants, venues and the pioneering Epicenter, Stockholm’s first innovation house.

Amec Foster Wheeler investors still affected by low oil prices

·         Challenging conditions in oil expected to continue

·         Expectations for the full year remain unchanged

As Amec Foster Wheeler reports its interim results Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, explains what they mean for investors.

“Low oil prices continue to negatively affect Amec Foster Wheeler, this morning’s interim results show. The group reported that it expects these challenging conditions to continue, putting pressure on margins. Investors should note that expectations for the full year remain unchanged.

“Amec’s business prospects have been hurt by the fall in oil prices as customers delay upstream capital expenditure. However, the diverse nature of the company has seen other markets counteract falling demand, whilst downstream markets, especially for petrochemicals, were described as being resilient. Furthermore, the group is currently involved in European nuclear and transmission & distribution markets.

“Compared to its peer group, Amec's share price performance has been relatively good given its diversification both by geography and sectors. On a prospective price to earnings basis of 9.5 times, the group looks more attractive in comparison to its peers. We currently recommend Amec as a long term buy’. This is a stock for those looking for a mixture of growth and income and willing to accept a medium level of risk, however, investors must be aware that a further fall in the price of oil poses a clear risk to the business.”

Savvy investors take advantage of current market volatility 

·         The Share Centre saw its busiest day of dealing commission ever

·         The retail stockbroker experienced a 204% uplift in typical trading

·         Top stocks bought included Lloyds and GlaxoSmithKline

This week, The Share Centre saw its busiest day of dealing commission ever. Figures from the leading retail stockbroker show a 204% uplift in typical trading volumes on Monday, with 42% of those trades being FTSE 100 listed stocks. This is approximately triple the amount of usual trading activity.        

The most popular traded stock on the day included Lloyds banking, GlaxoSmithKline, BP and Royal Dutch Shell B. Within trades made on the day, 45% were buys and 55% were sells. These figures show that private investors may be using this time of market volatility as a cheaper entry point into some of the bigger listed companies.

The Share Centre also saw that 20% of stocks bought on the day were from the AIM market, revealing that investors are still keen to benefit from the strong growth potential available from smaller market cap companies.

Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre comments: “These figures show that our customers may be using this time of market volatility as a cheaper entry point into some of the bigger listed companies. Short term investors appear to be taking advantage of this volatility and will be hoping to benefit from any recovery in markets.”