Angels - November '09

8/14/2019 Angels - November '09

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JULIE MEYERON BACKING

WINNERS

3 . 0 0

LORD ARCHERSINVESTMENT SECRETGIVING IT ALLAWAY

angelsN o ve m b e r 2 0 0 9The leading magazine for Business Angel investment


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This monthManaging Editor

Richard Alvin - [email protected]

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Simon Clarke - [email protected]

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Paul Jones - [email protected]

Contributors: - [email protected]

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ISSN 1754-3096

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in the news

Post firm bucks trend with 100% sales increaseIn the current economic down-

turn Bristol based ONEPOST has

seen a boom in postal activity

handling over 16m items overthe past year.

Born out of the postal deregu-

lation, onepost, is the leading in-

dependent postal advice

organisation providing cost-sav-

ing solutions to mailers, utilising

an increasing number of opera-

tors as well as innovative col-

lecting, sorting and distribution

techniques for mail in the UK.

Research from Bellwether

shows that marketers are severelycutting back their budgets as the

economic downturn deepens and

the FT has launched its ad cam-

paign last month urging compa-

nies to continue advertising.

However a recent report from

marketing agency, Epsilon, found

that Direct Marketing is playing

a key role during the economic

downturn with spend signifi-cantly increasing.

Graham Cooper, ONEPOST

Managing Director, comments

During this time it is even more

important for companies to use

channels that provide account-

ability and measurable results. In

addition our aim is to provide

postal strategies that will help

businesses save costs, maximis-

ing the benefits of their budgets.

He adds Some companiesare still unaware that there are

choices in the postal market

where significant savings can be

made and improvements gained

in the quality of service.

Skimpy skirts & open tops head fashion flopsMEN who undo one button too many on their

shirts or women who don see through blouses

are guilty of the biggest office fashion crimes,

according to a new survey.

61 per cent of 584 UK financial professionals

surveyed in the office fashion report conducted

by North West financial recruitment specialist,

AFR Consulting, find revealing clothing the

biggest office fashion faux pas.

The survey also revealed that dress down Fri-days and similar casual initiatives could be so

yesterday with 58 per cent of respondents pre-

ferring more traditional office wear at work,

such as suits, shirts, blouses and ties.

This was despite a massive 81 per cent of or-

ganisations revealing they had now introduced

a dress down day or similar policy at work,

suggesting bosses are themselves following a

social trend.

Adventurous wardrobe

The report by AFR Consulting questioned com-pany directors, financial directors, managers

and other finance professionals in a range of

organisations from the accountancy,

law, finance, manufacturing and re-

tail sectors.

AFR Consulting director

Simon Speak said: Some

people have a slightly

more adventurous dress

sense than others but re-

spondents to our survey

delivered an overwhelmingno to wearing revealing clothes

at work.

In the professional office envi-

ronment it seems directors and

managers still like to dress

smart, preferring business suits

and ties, even over the slightly

more casual look of trousers

and unbuttoned shirts. Despite

this 81 per cent of respondents

said their company now had a

dress down policy.Judging from the results of the

survey, office fashion continues to

be a hotly-debated topic in offices throughout

the UK.

Cliff Bashforth, a Master of the Federation of

Image Consultants (MFIC) and leading image

consultant for Colour Me Beautiful, said:

Your image at work can have an amazing

impact on your job prospects and it can

make or break your career.

One of the deadly sins is showing too

much flesh. Whether male or female, youngor old; covering up, even in the summer-

time, is of prime importance. Your profes-

sionalism and the respect youve gained

over a period of time can be damaged

should you succumb to dressing down

and baring all. If youre female, the guys

dont know where to look. Well, actually,

they do but its not at their computer key-

board. For the guys, lets keep any hairy bits

out of sight apart from those on your head

and forearms of course.

As well as revealing clothes, other office fash-ion pet hates, according to the survey, included

jeans, sportswear and tank tops.

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk 5


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in the news

SMEs in London and South East

failing to take up government fundingAn independent research poll conducted onbehalf of Ixion has revealed that a staggering

85% of SMEs across London and the South

East have lost-out on government funding

available for their business to invest in

training.

The shocking results of the poll could partly

be put down to a need for more positive action

from the SME business base in response to con-

tact from government funded brokerage ser-

vices.

The poll, conducted among businesses with

fewer than 250 employees, found that 81% ofrespondents said that their business had carried

out some form of staff training in the past, yet a

worrying 71% had not taken any positive steps

to capitalise on a minimum of 1,500 in gov-

ernment funding available to them for training.

Graham Baker, CEO of Ixion, commented:

In an increasingly challenging business envi-ronment, investment in training is critical.

These are worrying statistics, with over half a

million* SMEs in London and the South East of

England, businesses must realise that they can

benefit from government funding available and

have access to appropriate training to enhance

their business, and in turn increase their com-

petitive advantage.

The Government has committed itself to

the UKs long term skills needs to achieve a

world class skills profile by 2020. This research

highlights that SMEs need to take some respon-sibility for making contact with organisations

such as Ixion, which provides a gateway for

businesses and individuals to access public

funds, ensuring that they get signposted to, and

benefit from, appropriate business support spe-

cialists and training that they are entitled to.

Graham Baker concluded: Businessesshould understand that government-funded ser-

vices such as the Business Link service, Train to

Gain or Ixion run Advantage East are in exis-

tence to help and advise them on business

growth and workforce development training.

This support is particularly important given the

current economic climate, where a trained

workforce can give a competitive edge.

On contact, the Ixion research uncovered

that an incredible 96% of respondents said

they would like to learn more about regional

government funded schemes such as IxionsTrain to Gain and Business Link services.

*According to Business Link, in 2006, there

were 202,580 companies in the East of Eng-

land and 304,090 companies in London with

fewer than 250 employees.

www.ixion.com

London offers opportunities for Korean businessesThink London has begun offering a new free & confidential service for

Korean businesses looking to globalise.

Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London, is

showcasing opportunities for Korean businesses looking to expand and

grow in London as the UK capital prepares to host the Olympic and Para-

lympic Games in 2012. Londons economy is forecast to grow by $80

billion by 2012 and will offer huge opportunities for Korean companies

looking to invest in the capital.

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London is visiting Korea in

early April to meet with Korean businesses and to co-host a session with

KOTRA (the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency) to advise com-

panies on how they can benefit from investing in London.Speaking ahead of the visit, Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think

London commented, We believe that many Korean businesses are well

placed to benefit from the investment opportunities presented by Lon-

dons predicted economic growth of $80 billion by 2012 as well as

those relating to the 2012 Games. We are ready to support Korean com-

panies looking to take advantage of these opportunities and globalise

their business by using London as a springboard into Europe.

London is the perfect springboard for businesses looking to go

global, with fast access to a range of customers, markets, ideas and fi-

nance all aimed at helping businesses operate on a global scale.

Outward foreign direct investment from South Korea increased from

$4.3 billion to $7.1billion in 2006, with London attracting 25 percent ofall Korean projects into Europe.

Think London provides free, confidential and comprehensive advice

to help international businesses set up and grow in London. The FDI

agency for London is able to assist companies who are interested in ap-

plying for any one of the 2,000 main contracts and the further estimated

50,000 supply chain contracts available in relation to 2012. Think Lon-

don has a well established track record of helping businesses establish

themselves in the capital and has helped more than 1,000 companies

from 43 countries since 1994. Over the past seven years, Think Londonhas assisted 30 Korean companies to set up or expand in the capital

including Samsung Design Europe, Hyundai Logistics, Hanjin and

Industrial Bank of Korea.

6 www.angelsmagazine.co.uk


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like to tell it as it is; over these

coming months I will unfold to you

the details from the grass roots end

of my businesses, and why as a social

entrepreneur I want to pass on my

skills so more people like many of you

can take a similar option.

Since my experience on Secret Million-

aire the whole environment around me has

changed: I am loving it. I learnt that I should

have even more of a social conscience in my

daily business; and so my whole businessethos has changed, whereby I focus much

more on customer needs. We are now work-

ing with The Wallich, a housing charity in

Llanelli town who help homeless and depen-

dant people get re-housed. The identifiable

need is that there is a shortage of secondary

residential rental housing to accommodate

the less fortunate individuals; therefore we

have refurbished two houses to licensed

shared housing status and have been ap-

proved by the environmental health office to

let as such. One of the buildings is dedicatedfor male occupancy and the other female.

The Wallich supply a case officer for each

tenant to help them back onto the housing

ladder and we let on a room-by-room basis

with living allowance paid by the rent office.

There is a very big demand for this type of

housing in the UK, and I urge landlords to

look into this option. In most cases, rents are

paid directly from the local council to my

bank account. The upshot is that my social

conscious is already, in a small way, satisfied

and its financially lucrative to boot.

My businesses

As you can probably tell, residentialrentals form the main long term hub of my

business; and are one of seven major

businesses that I own. We have had to

become innovative in the market; obtaining

finance has become tighter and rents drop-

ping by 18% on average across my portfolio.

Margins however, i.e. cash flow remains

strong as interest rates have dropped pro-

rata. I make money when I buy property

and every house has to cash flow from day

one of rental. I welcome the tightening up of

the law as a result of the housing act 2004except for one: direct living allowance pay-

ments to tenants as opposed to paying rents

directly to landlords. Government expected

this change to teach tenants how to handle

money; its not working. The tenant has to

be in 8 weeks of arrears before the council

will start paying landlord directly; so what is

actually happening is its encouraging tenants

to turn more to alcohol and drugs as they

spiral even more into debt and difficulty,

therefore its making the situation much

worse not better. Ultimately it will cost the

government more money as private sector

landlords are in some cases refusing to ac-

cept income supported tenants or have gonebust because of resulting rental shortfalls.

Top-down lessons

The government needs to wake up!! Our

business lost 23k in non payments last year

alone. Teach us finance and how to run a

home in school if you wish to be productive.

Our house is probably the biggest asset we

have in our lives; I find myself consistently

sitting down with consumers teaching them

how to draw up a simple asset and liabilities

cash flow plan as they have never beentaught what I believe is the most fundamen-

tal business planning.

See www.propertytrain.biz

In his new column, developer &

social entrepreneur Kevin givesus his unique take on social

conscience in business

TheKevinGreenColumn

I


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n many companies, marketing has

traditionally been seen as merely

a cost to the business.

While the sales department was responsi-

ble for bringing in the revenue, the market-

ing department, it seemed, was constantly

asking for further investment in a variety ofcampaigns, whose impact was hard to ascer-

tain.

While the common view was that market-

ing was necessary, in many businesses mar-

keting was tolerated, rather than embraced.

This is especially true in a world where a

product or service was created, and only

after its conception, was it handed over to

the marketing department. They would then

decide how best to take it to the customer base.

This approach worked for two reasons.

Firstly; we lived in a world of limited choice.Consumers, for many purchases, were lim-

ited by geographical boundaries. Whole mar-

ket sectors such as telecoms, utilities, air

travel and financial services had not been

deregulated in the way that they are today. In

this market, simply shouting that you ex-

isted, would often lead to some business.

The bigger the budget, the more you could

shout; by way of advertising, direct mailing,

cold calling etc., and the more business you

would often acquire.

Secondly; consumers were prepared tolisten to the shouting. Before the World Wide

Web and specifically Google, who made

sense of all the information that it contained,

it was quite difficult for consumers to find

out about new products and services and be

able to compare them. Traditionally, shout-

ing about your product or service was often

the only way consumers were made aware of

new developments in the market. Therefore,

while companies engaged in this activity to

sell their wares, consumers got some value

by learning about new products and servicesthat were available.

Today, this model simply does not work.

Consumers now have an abundance of

choice, which, in many cases, is no longer

limited by geographical boundaries. They

also have access to information regarding

that choice. Customers no longer want to lis-

ten to companies shouting, because there is

no longer any value in it for them. They

know that when they want to find out whats

available, they will have access to all the in-

formation they require on the internet.

In todays world, where the choice of

products and services is abundant, con-

sumers no longer take the same notice of

companies who make fantastic claims about

what they can provide.

Today, consumers make sense of all the

choice available by listening to each other.

Through social networks, blogs, messaging,

emails and forums, consumers disseminate

information and experiences about compa-

nies. It is this information that has such alarge influence on other purchasers.

Therefore, no longer is marketing just

about clever strap lines and imagery.

No longer is marketing about bombarding

the customer with messages, in the hope that

it will lead to some action further on down

the line.

With information regarding a product

or service readily available and easily

disseminated by consumers, they too

are now involved in shaping brands.

Marketing is now about being part of

that conversation.

Marketing is about helping to shape that

process. It is more about facilitation, than it

is about directing. If you want consumers to

talk about your product or service then themarketing must be built into that product or

service. For example; anyone can post a

video on YouTube for free, but every time

you do, by directing people to your video,

you are also marketing YouTube.

Marketing is no longer something that

should be thought about after the product or

service is conceptualised. It must be built

into the very essence of the product or

service. It is integral. In other words;

marketing today, more than ever before, has

to be at the heart of the business strategy.Marketing must be in the boardroom and

failing to do that is like a rudderless ship.

I

Why Marketing must

bein the boardroomBusiness marketing expert Grant Leboff looks at why marketing plans need to be front and centre

Grant Leboff is Principal of The Intelligent Sales Clubworking with companies on effective sales andmarketing strategies and lead generation; creating asteady stream of sales opportunities for businesses.For more information [email protected] or call 0844 478 0044

Marketing is no longersomething that should be

thought about after the productor service is conceptualised



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11/51

hat do Bill Gates, Warren

Buffet, Sir Tom Hunter and

Duncan Bannatyne all have in

common?The answer, apart from considerable

success, is that they're all committed

philanthropists, who have pledged to

give away the bulk of their fortunes to

good causes. And they're not alone as

with every month that passes, more and

more of the world's wealthy announce

their intention to devote their time and

their money to making the world a bet-

ter place.

So, what's driving them? Though there

are many reasons for giving, the mostoften cited is that it's an enjoyable and

rewarding experience. Victor Hugo once

said that "as the purse is emptied, so the

heart is filled", and for many, philan-

thropy does just that. It gives people

pleasure and life enrichment by know-

ing that they're making a difference. It

also allows them to achieve a

spend/give balance. For instance, while

he has had no problem in amassing his

fortune, the hedge fund manager Arpad

Busson said in a recent Guardian inter-view that his decision to embrace phi-

lanthropy was because he found it

impossible to enjoy his wealth, knowing

there are people out there who were

much less fortunate than himself.

For others, philanthropy can be the

ideal way of instilling family values and

educating their children, as showing the

next generation what a difference

wealth can make to others can help pre-

pare them for the responsibilities of in-

heritance. When asked what he wouldleave his children, Warren Buffet fa-

mously remarked: "A very rich person

would leave his kids enough to do any-

thing, but not enough to do nothing."

Worried about stifling their offsprings'

ambitions by giving them everything on

a plate, entrepreneurs in particular are

increasingly leaving the majority of their

wealth to good causes or charitable

foundations that they have created.Dragon's Den star Peter Jones has estab-

lished a trust fund to reward his children

for the good they do, their yearly al-

lowance dictated by their choice of fu-

ture career. He hopes it will encourage

them to consider professions that make

a difference to others, such as nursing or

teaching, rather than focusing purely on

those jobs with the best salaries. Like-

wise, his co-star, Duncan Bannatyne in-

tends to leave his entire fortune to his

Bannatyne Foundation. He fears thatleaving his children hundreds of mil-

lions of pounds would rob their lives of

any purpose.

Having a common goal

But as well as allowing children to fol-

low their own path, we have found

amongst our clients that philanthropy

can also bring families closer together. If

you own a successful family business,

setting up a charitable foundation can

allow those relatives not involved in theday-to-day running of the company to

work together for a common goal or

purpose.

For those that have sold their business or

are beginning to take a step back from

their profession, but are not quite ready

to sit back totally, philanthropy is an op-

portunity to apply both financial capital

and life experience in order to solve so-

cial problems. Rather than simply writ-

ing out a cheque, creating your own

dedicated fund or taking a hands-on ap-proach to the causes you support can

ensure that your money and expertise

are having the greatest impact. This can

often become a career in itself, with

similar rewards and the same sense of

achievement. When the late Anita Rod-

dick sold The Body Shop, it wasn't so

that she could sit back and enjoy the

fruits of her labours, it was so she could

devote the rest of her life to her charityfoundation.

Leaving a lasting legacy

In addition to making an impact during

your lifetime, philanthropy is also a way

of supporting a cause for the long term

and creating a lasting legacy. Setting up

a trust that will fund organisations or

charities in perpetuity will ensure that

your work will always make a difference

and will remind others of how strongly

you felt about a particular cause. For anexample look no further than Bill Gates.

At the moment he's famous for founding

Microsoft, but he hopes that after he's

gone, he'll be remembered for his com-

mitment to eradicating disease and end-

ing social inequality in Africa through

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

But whatever your initial motivation to

start giving, knowing how, where and

when can prove challenging. With so

many deserving causes, choosing the

right one is always going to be a toughdecision. And once that choice is made

there are further difficulties. How much

to give; whether to make a single dona-

tion or regular payments; how to gauge

a specific charity's performance before

supporting it and how to monitor the

impact your support is having. So if

you feel that philanthropy could be the

key to enriching your life, then Coutts

can help you develop your perfect giv-

ing strategy. From simple advice and re-

searching potential beneficiaries, tosetting up a charitable trust, our dedi-

cated philanthropy team will guide you

every step of the way, making it simple

for individuals, families and business

clients alike to start making a difference.

We look at the growing trend of the ubber wealthy entrepreneurs who are determined to give away their

wealth to help others instead of just handing it on to their future children and future generations

Giving it all away

W



12/51

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13/51

reen and Jacks a custom shirt

maker claims to be able to

read human personality from

their choice of shirts.

There have been lots of studies linking

colour to personality. Especially the research

by Dr. Max Lscher during the early 1900's is

very interesting. He studied the relationshipbetween choices of colour to human be-

haviour. Dr Lschers study has been used by

large companies, doctors and psychologists

to analyse human personality.

Green and Jacks a London based custom

shirt maker has applied colour research to

help their customers project the right image.

The colour and fit of the shirt that one chooses

gives an insight into ones personality.

What does your shirt say about you?

Crimson high energy, confident, passion-ate, sensual and brave leader

White honest, practical and natural..

Pink - confident, naughty and unconven-

tional.

Black powerful, elegant and mysterious.

Blue organised, warm, caring and intuitive

personality.

Yellow original, happy and helpful.

Grey a balanced and elegant thinker.

Brown A conventional person who loves

the outdoors.

A well fitting shirt often conveys a structured

mind and an organised personality. Choose

the fit and colour that projects and compli-

ments ones personality by visiting the custom

shirt store.

Green and Jacks custom shirt maker offer

free colour consultations. The perfect fit guar-

antee makes ordering custom made shirts risk

free to customers since alterations are free of

charge.

G

Telling who you are by

the shirt on your back



14/51


atching up with Julie Meyer is one

thing, keeping up is quite another. The

fast-talking American is so full of ideas

and energy she reflects the equally dynamic

online and digital world she works in. During

our 45 minute meeting we cover everything

from Martin Luther to the recession and the

future of the 21st century. Do we have enough

time? she asks the start of the interview. I tellher we do, I am certainly wrong.

Confidant

Meyers business, Ariadne Capital, is, by its

most mundane description, an advisory,

investment and networking business. Meyer

will refer to it also as a marketing machine, a

revenue centre and place where

entrepreneurs back entrepreneurs. Its clients

include some of the hottest new properties in

the digital, online and media spaces. While its

50 or so founding shareholders are drawn from

the best of the UK and European digital world.

And, in the middle theres Meyer and her team

joining up the dots. My strategy with

entrepreneurs is to become their confidant and

for them never to doubt that I am on their side.Start-ups are such a hot kitchen, you have to be

the steady ship that they can lean on.

Funding Crisis

So, in the teeth of the worst recession and

financial crisis in years, are the deals still

getting done? Apparently so, Ariadne has

completed five fundraisings since December,

sees about 100 business plans per month and is

still hiring staff. Meyer also scoffs at the no-

tion that nobody is getting funded. When

people say nobody is getting funded, I thinkthey might not be getting funded by the VC

community, but theres a lot of private capital

out there; theres a lot of family offices and

entrepreneurs that have made money, and they

are looking for opportunities to channel into

their money and expertise.

This is where Ariadne fits in, working with

the start-ups and emerging businesses,

helping entrepreneurs overcome their funding

problems and build managerial capital through

its network. Meyer describes business develop-

ment in five main stages: concept, product, val-idation, scalability and sustainability and/or

exit. In order to effectively gauge a companys

valuation, she spots where the entrepreneur is

in this cycle, looks at comparable fundraisings

and gives the owner-manager the hard truth. A

lot of entrepreneurs have unrealistic expecta-

tions about valuations. But if you have them on

your side and they trust you, you can say lets

look at the deals done for companies at your

stage of development, youre not worth 10m

today, youre worth 3m, so lets get a deal

done.

Ideas V Money

The UK is no longer home to heavy manu-

facturing and huge nationalised or state-backed

businesses. Its economic future depends on the

efforts and ideas of entrepreneurs and small

businesses. Meyer believes that on this front we

have a lot to offer and sees the next century as

a period of mass entrepreneurship. But she is

less than impressed by both statesman and in-

stitutional investors, who still dont seem to

have grasped what this really means. There

are lots of great entrepreneurs in this country,

but the funding of entrepreneurship has notkept pace with it , she says.

The venture capital community needs to re-

vise how they relate to entrepreneurs and to

want to create more world-beaters. Trust be-

tween the VCs and entrepreneurs needs to be

improved and the former need to look at

owner-managers in a more positive light. Not

everybody is a Charles Dunstone (founder of

Carphone Warehouse), but theres more

Charles Dunstones in the market than the VC

community admits.

I am amazed by the amount of successfulentrepreneurs, who have made money and

want their next idea to be hit right out of the

ballpark, who say, you know what I dont want

anything to do with the VC community.

Ideas and innovation are essential

Backing winners

all the wayJulie Meyer the founder of Ariadne Capital, First Tuesday and latest

Dragon talks to Jon Card. As one of the foremost operators in the UKs

digital space she tells us about the web, whos going to beat the recession

and why being an entrepreneur is the best choice for the 21st century

C

V


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16/51

and always have been, but too much emphasis

is placed on the money, she argues. This leads

to the two groups fighting for control of the

bus theres also many cases of companies

being over-capitalised which makes profitable

exits unrealistic: It comes down to the philos-

ophy of the investor. Whos the hero of thestory? When I speak to the investors about who

they think are the important ones in the equa-

tion they say that we are the ones bringing the

money. But if you look at history it shows that

capital follows ideas, it always has and always

will.

Getting to market

So what makes a great idea or business,

Meyers draws from history to argue the

following: It isnt the best idea or product that

wins the day but the best idea/product with thebest distribution. Martin Luther had a radical

idea challenging the Catholic Church, but

without Gutenberg he would have been a mere

footnote of history.

Start-ups are front loaded needing lots ofcapital, ideas and talent right at the start to take

them out to market. For new technology-based

companies this is all the harder as develop-

ment costs can be high and consumers still

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MEYER AT A GLANCE

Born in the US, Meyer moved to Paris in

1988 and later went to the business school

Insead, which despite being in France was

just dominated by the Brits. In 1998, she

opted to move to London rather than SiliconValley, as she felt she could play a greater

role as it seemed almost possible to get to

know everybody who was working in the

internet. She founded First Tuesday, a now

legendary global networking business, which

brought entrepreneurs, suppliers and

investors together. They wore met green,

amber and red name badges respectively to

speed up the introductory process. In July

2000, she sold First Tuesday for 50m in

cash and shares and the formation of

Ariadne Capital followed in December of thatyear. She now has permanent residency in

the UK and is considering citizenship. Al-

though as an American, is not fully taken by

the idea of swearing an oath to our Queen.


17/51


18/51

it failed to adapt and to listen to what con-

sumers were telling them. But now new com-

panies in the new media world are taking their

place and are getting funded. Look at for exam-

ple BView, an interactive review of businessescomplete with credit scoring, or Slice the Pie,

where fans can invest in musicians.

There seems to be something so much more

democratic about the companies she champi-

ons, compared to the dominant players of the

20th century. It isnt just about them making

money, but about the consumer getting a return

too. With this in mind, you start to get a flavour

of what she is envisaging when talks about afuture of mass entrepreneurship. A future where

we are all able to get the information we need,

invest in great ideas and depend on ourselves

above all.

DRAGON MEYER

Alongside Ariadne, Meyer has been

investing in companies via the online version

of Dragons Den. However, it has become so

popular that it is now scheduled for TV

broadcast this monthAs the latest addition to the Den, Meyer is

a change of direction for the show, as she

will not engage in the caustic put-downs

and withering looks that has helped to make

the show famous. I am never rude to

entrepreneurs, so I told the producers

please dont expect me to do that, as thats

not who I am. She wants to help

entrepreneurs and to explain why she isnt

investing without burying them. Apparently

this was a major breakthrough. And I was

told they liked my strategic insight, I thoughtI was just being nice to them and explaining

why I wasnt investing. At the time of

writing she has made two investments, one

survived due diligence, the other did not.


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19/51

ooking to invest in a film, a new

band or an up and coming artist?

You could do a lot worse than spend a

day in Hospital. Want to meet up and

coming entrepreneurs? Perhaps you

should head to Adam Street.

Big business deals are moving out of the

Boardroom and into a range of different

venues. From the traditional grandeur of TheArts Club in Mayfair or The London Capital

Club in the City, to the more modern sur-

rounds of Soho and Shoreditch House and

the aforementioned Hospital Club, private

members clubs are thriving both in London

and across the country.

With the growth in the number of

entrepreneurs working from home, fed up

with looking for hotel lobbies, coffee shops

and bars for meetings, private members

clubs have enjoyed a renaissance in recent

years. While London has seen an explosionin the popularity of such venues, the trend

hasnt been restricted to the Capital. Ive

enjoyed meetings with members of clubs in

Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Birming-

ham among others.

A few years ago the network of which I

was Managing Director conducted an infor-

mal survey of our membership, primarily

micro and small businesses. We asked those

of our members who had also joined the In-

stitute of Directors the main reason for their

membership of the IoD. Over 85% of therespondents joined the IoD because of the

availability of their Clubs in Pall Mall. Since

that time the IoD has developed a network

of Hubs similar clubs with meeting space

across the UK, available to all members.

And its not just entrepreneurs. Business

leaders looking for a reliable, discreet venue

for business lunches, television celebrities

hammering out their latest contracts and in-

vestors looking for their next great project

can all be found enjoying the benefits of

club membership.Many members clubs are established to

cater for particular industries or professions,

encouraging like-minded people to collabo-

rate and support each other. Others boast

affiliations with similar establishments

abroad, or elsewhere in the country.

While many of the older clubs retain the

traditional rules, requiring mobiles to be

switched off, insisting on members wearing

ties and banning talk of business in manyareas, the new breed embrace business. In

many you will find members lost in their

laptops, with the Club acting as their virtual

office, while some, such as One Alfred

Place, in Bloomsbury, offer on-site PAs and

workstations.

If you are looking to find out where to

meet new people, create and develop

alliances and discover the next great deal, it

might be time to dust off your dancing shoesand go clubbing.

L

Going ClubbingBusiness networking specialist Andy Lopata looks some of the new crop of business clubs

Andy Lopata is one of the UKs leading business net-working and referrals strategists. The co-author of twobooks on networking, Andy works with companiesfrom one-man bands to global names such asNatWest Bank, Merrill Lynch, O2 and Capita to helpthem realise the full potential from their networks.

The Pool Room & Belini Loungeat The Hospital



20/51


21/51

s new businesses are being es-tablished by entrepreneursacross the country, to suit the

market looking for more individualservice, businesses must focus oncreating a brand that can leveragetheir business financially.

Branding is affecting business more and

more everyday, so much so that it is taking over

larger shares of a business' value and becoming

an increasingly important factor when it comes

to differentiating yourselves from competitors.Brand is worth the investment successful

brands command premium positions,

customers will pay more and economic value

will be added to your organisation. A powerful

business asset, branding can be used to

strengthen customer retention and win new

clients and, maybe more importantly for the

future of business, good brands attract the right

calibre of employee something that is often

overlooked. Its estimated that 50% of Coca

Cola's worth lies in its trademark and weve

also found this with SME clients who havehoned in on creating a brand, not just a

business.

Xiros

Let's take a look at an example. Xiros, a

Yorkshire based medical devices manufacturer,

found that potential customers werent seeing

the business for what it truly was, an innovative

medical design house effectively missing out

on business they knew was right for them. After

evolving their existing brand and dissecting the

product offer, the business recorded a 700%increase in new business generation within 12

months. This has kick-started a period of

significant growth over the last two years.

Brand plays a significant part in how the

company is perceived and how it approaches

new business.

The existing customer's relationship with a

brand

As well as attracting new business, a

re-brand lets existing customers know that you

are evolving with the times and are able to

meet their changing needs in the businessworld. Selling to existing customers is the

easiest (and cheapest) way to increase revenue

and it is these customers who are most likely to

bring you new referrals.

Customers form emotional alliances with

strong brands, ultimately these brands are able

to command a higher price in the marketplace,

providing much stronger financial returns

throughout a business life cycle.

Attracting new customers

The current climate means that new

customers are much more cautious when

entering into new business relationships. They

will be on the lookout for a brand that they can

relate to, one that matches the needs and

values of their business.

This is where brand works most effectively.

Creating differentiation is one of the most

important attributes to a brand. A valuable

perception of quality in the mind of the

customer will guarantee you are competing

based on your credentials rather than on price.The current climate offers great opportuni-

ties for SMEs larger firms that sub-contract to

smaller independents are looking to cut costs.

SMEs need a good brand behind them to

leverage credibility for bigger contracts.

Interior Surfaces

Interior Surfaces, bespoke manufacturers of

solid and laminate surface products, decided to

invest in their brand as a way of attracting

larger contractors. They invested in a re-brand

because their existing image was not represen-tative of their capabilities and they wanted to

appeal to a larger commercial customer base.

They had a 5 year plan in place to double their

turnover, but achieved this in 2 after reposition-

ing the business as a complete solutions

provider. Turnover rose from 1.2m to 2.4m.

This was put down to the new brand and

strong design ideas bringing a sense of what

they were able to achieve to the company, both

within the business and externally, and have

since gone on to successfully win contractswith larger clients, and entered new markets.

Design with targets to meet

An effective brand strategy should deliver

results to the bottom line and therefore should

always have targets to meet and be measured

for performance. It should tie into your wider

marketing strategy and flow consistently within

an organisation's internal and external commu-

nications. This makes the brand a more power-

ful tool.

Branding affects business

Brand equity is turning into a corporate asset

that provides financial return and long term

profits, whilst also adding value to the cus-

tomer. From multinational companies to SMEs

the principles are the same - good brands will

be reflected in a stronger balance sheet with a

higher level of profitability for a given cost of

sales a very attractive proposition to build a

business around.

But what must be remembered first and

foremost is that a brand is not just a logo, it is

paying attention to detail to every aspect ofcommunication within an organisation, from

stationary to staff. If that is mastered then the

reputation of your company should prevail over

the competitors', and by word of mouth, you

should find yourself with a successful

business.

A

The value of a brand



22/51

n the late 1960s there wasnt the

supermodels of the stature of Clau-dia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Kate

Moss or Naomi Campbell, but there

was a glut or normal people who were

needed to be in advertising that the

buyer could associate with.

So in 1969 Mark French founded

what was then the first character model

agency called Ugly and you could say

that he has never looked back as

steadily their roster of models grew as

did their clients.

Its name notwithstanding, Ugly does-nt just represent the odd and

grotesque, but real people. The agency

believes it is tapping into a shift in ad-

vertising trends, in which advertisers

seek models who look more like cus-

tomers, on the theory that the cus-tomers can better relate to them.

The agency now gets up to 100 e-

mailed applications per day. But photos

that give a good laugh are filed in a

desk drawer.

After over thirty years running Ugly

in the UK, Mark set about expanding

the business away from the UK. There

was only really one option as the first

venue and that was America. The land

of the free, and so French hooked up

with Simon Rogers, who after workingfor more than 20 years as a fashion

model knows the business inside and

out and had been friends with French

since they were teenagers.

Whilst it was a struggle at first as the

US is very different to the UK as there isa different union for every aspect of the

business commented French the pro-

gression has gone very well and now

Ugly NY is perhaps New York Citys

only modeling agency specializing in

booking non-professionals. A quick

look at their casting book highlights

models sized zero to 30; little people of

four feet and under; and sumo

wrestlers, old ladies, drag queens and

tattooed bikers, among others.

Other agencies avoid these kinds ofpeople, said the Shadow casting direc-

tor, Rene Torrire. Ugly has made a

home for them.

Ugly NY, which opened its doors in

Turning uglyI

Taking over

We talk to the British businesses who are leading the charge

Richard Alvin talks to Mark French about opening up his unique brand of

agency in the US and Americas facination wi th UGLY



23/51

Americanfocus

the summer of 2007 has signed on

nearly 500 models so far and the pair

hope to expand their brand to other

cities, among them Los Angeles and

Berlin.

French actually decided to launch

the New York arm of the business as a

franchise which Rogers runs as it was alot easier using that model he explains.

That said he still spends one week

every month in New York and feels that

the inside of the BA cabin is his home

from home as he sees it so often.

Ugly NY talent representative Yvette

Ulrich says that New York is the best

city for this kind of agency.

A lot of New Yorkers, theyre not try-

ing to be anything else: this is it, they

show up as is, she said. Its not like

theyre getting dressed up in the morn-ing, thats who they are.

Ugly models can sometimes earn the

same rates as runway or other tradi-

tional models, though mainly it expects

to offer part-time gigs paying a few

hundred dollars a day.

I tell them, you can make money

being you, the way that you look, be-

cause its beautiful, Ulrich said.

Native New Yorker Najwa Moses

welcomes the chance to make money

from her appearance, whether or notthe looks she gets are flattering.

My hair is unusual and Im pretty

tall, so Im always getting looks, she

said. Some are positive and some are

negative, but theyre looking.

She was booked as an extra for the

movie version of Sex in the City be-

cause, she said, the directors liked her

different but fashionable look.

Model Betul Alganatay, featured on

Manhattan Storage ad on billboards,

says she chose Ugly NY because shedidnt want to get lost in a bigger

agency.

Ugly has a different attitude to-

wards the business, she said. They

look at it in a human way.

Anyway, theres really no such thing

as ugly, according to Rogers. Theres

boring, he said. But not ugly.



24/51


hile the Americans and theBritish have similar language

and culture, the two nations

are still quite different when it comes

to business.

Understanding these idiosyncrasies will

ensure you are better equipped to nego-

tiate deals and develop long-term busi-

ness relationships. There are some

primary aspects to consider:

Americans often build relationships

through business, not business through

relationships. Work out the details ofthe deal first, the relationships may

come later.

Active selling is expected, often to

a degree that may be regarded as exces-

sive in the UK.

Time is money, so be well prepared

with samples, packaging and sales

sheets. Know your return-on investment

calculations or sales forecasts, pricing

and logistics. Deadlines are real and

short; respond quickly or risk losing the

business. Know your competitive advantage

over specific US suppliers, as well as

your domestic and international track

record.

Being direct is a virtue; ask for

what you want, say what you mean and

do as you say. Being shy and

unassertive may be seen as a weakness

in the US. Americans wont take offence

to well-phrased, direct questions be-

cause they always reserve the right to

say no. Be positive. British tendency to be

self-effacing or downplay achievements

can clash with Americans can-do

attitude and tendency to take informa-

tion at face value.

Effective follow-up is essentialand often involves persistent and

repetitive attempts to make contact.

If you have called or emailed

someone 23 times and have not

heard back from them, do not as-

sume they are disinterested. In-

stead, remember that persistence

is expected in the US; it may take you

as many as 1012 attempts to get a re-

sponse, whether positive or negative.

Business conduct in the US is gen-

erally conservative, polite and succinct;it is important to clarify benefits for the

prospective customer.

The key to success is not being large

but having a strong product or service

offering and being able to clearly artic-

ulate your competitive advantage. US

buyers are time poor and bombarded

with marketing collateral and sales

pitches from hundreds of companies.

As a result, it is extremely difficult to

get their attention. Success in the

United States is often based on persis-tence. It is not uncommon for a buyer

to need to hear your message numerous

times before they can differentiate it

from all the others.

You should increase your chances of

getting noticed by keeping the message

concise and diversifying the channels

you use to deliver it, such as email,

telephone, publications, third parties

and personal visits. Americans were the

inventors of the 30-second sales pitch.

Whether you like or loathe the idea, thelevel of marketing noise bombarding

buyers and the number of competitors

makes it a necessity.

You need to be sure you can move a

US buyer from passive disinterest to

curious engagement as quickly and ef-

fectively as possible ideally in 30 to

60 seconds.

This concise pitch should include thefollowing four elements:

Articulate the problem your prod-

uct addresses, the solution it provides

and why its better than its competitors.

For example, My software solves the

problem of product tracking in the retail

industry and provides a 30 per cent

higher savings rate than my two top

competitors.

Use American English. It sounds

like common sense, but many UK busi-

ness people speak in metric units, refer-ence British locations and use British

slang in US pitches.

Try to reference companies that are

already active in the US when establish-

ing your advantage or credibility.

Whether presenting testimonials or

claims against competitors, the US

buyer needs to quickly understand who

you are in context of his or her current

environment.

Be specific about the benefits.

Avoid using generalities such as im-proven return-on-investment, productiv-

ity or sales. Instead provide specific

numbers, data and percentage increases

on aspects of business that show you

understand the buyers concerns.

W

Gaining that

competitiveedge

Use your britishness as

an advantage


25/51


Gordon Brown reputedly waitedmany years to step into the top job,yet when he eventually did he made

the mistake that so many other lead-ers have made before him. Gordonforgot to leave his old job behind.

It is no accident that the only major success

of Gordon Browns premiership so far has been

on the world financial stage. This is a world in

which he feels at home and so can use his

strengths and experience to full effect. He has

had somewhat less success however on the

media stage, promoting himself and his govern-

ment. So many leaders move into a new role

and fail to assess and define the priorities of the

new job, trying instead to use skills of old that

have served them so well on the upward climb.

It is this transition that can prove to be the

undoing of many a talented star who has risen

through the ranks delivering targets and achiev-

ing goals. The move into a more senior leader-

ship role often brings with it new responsibili-

ties, a broader strategic focus and the need to

consider every uttered word that may be

unpicked and analysed for hidden meaning.

Exhausting as it may seem, every decision,

every smile and every handshake must be

considered. The water-coolers and corridors of

offices can spurn discussions just as toxic as

those in the corridors of power.

Define priorities

It is in this transition that an Executive

Coach can prove invaluable. A coach can help

the new leader define the priorities of the new

job and to distinguish between what I like

doing, and what I should be doing. By chal-

lenging the rationale, the coach can bring a

unique honesty to task prioritisation, helping to

clarify the needs of the new role in the broader

organisational context. As a neutral party the

coach can also help raise awareness of the

strengths and weaknesses that the leader brings

to the role. An authentic appraisal of skills will

prove invaluable to achieving results. Only

then can the leader begin to shape the new

role and appreciate which tasks they should

take on, and which should be delegated to bet-

ter suited or more charismatic lieutenants.

Ultimately coaching is about taking action.

Priorities and awareness can only yield results

if acted on. A coach can provide the support

needed by leaders to define appropriate strate-

gies to move forward. As sounding board or

confidante the coach provides a unique think-

ing space which frees the mind from the shack-

les of fear and indecision. Helping to build an

action plan to enable the leader to travel to the

edges of their comfort zone but not beyond

their realm of competence.

Carmelina Lawton Smith, a Senior Lecturer & consultant with Oxford Brookes University

Business School looks at how to manage transition of top staff

You know you need a

business coach when...Youre facing

a transition


26/51

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29/51


ntrepreneurs have been elevated by the media to become

role models, a position once reserved for footballers and

film stars.

Todays young people are as likely to aspire to become the next

Richard Branson, Peter Jones or Duncan Banatyne as they are tofollow in the footsteps of David Beckham or Jude Law.

The common factor among all these figures is one-in-a-million

talent. They are simply exceptional at what they do. And that

rubs off down the scale. Just as Fred Bloggs who plays for

Melchester Rovers Reserves reckons he must have that divine

talent too, so, it seems, does Joe Soap, who runs a business and

sees himself as an entrepreneur. And Mr Soap, at least, may have

to rethink.

Global business consultancy McKinney Rogers has just carried

out a survey of senior business executives and concluded that

Britains entrepreneurs should watch their backs because theyre

not as unique as they thought. There is evidence of a moreentrepreneurial generation hot on their heels, particularly from

emerging markets, which are embracing a more entrepreneurial

approach to business.

Train to be an entrepeneur

Coupled with that, a majority of respondents to the McKinney

Rogers survey believe entrepreneurship is not an innate gift and

can be developed.

The survey, which encompassed Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and

the US, was designed to gauge awareness, perceptions and trends

surrounding entrepreneurial skills in the corporate environment.

While an encouraging two-thirds of respondents (69 per cent)believe that in todays business environment it is important for

large organisations to develop a core competence of

entrepreneurship, the emergence of a more entrepreneurial spirit

in the boardroom is noticeably different in the UK from how it is

in some other regions.

The younger emerging markets are ready to embrace

entrepreneurship in a large organisation (50 per cent) as opposed

to only 27 per cent in Europe including the UK, where markets

are more established. This is supported by respondents who see

regions such as Africa having a widespread belief (88 per cent)

that entrepreneurs can be developed, compared with only 38

per cent of people surveyed in UK and the rest of Europe. Lessconstrained by tradition, these emerging markets are perhaps

more open to risk taking and creating a more flexible

environment and culture that can embrace entrepreneurship.

Key findings emerged when executives and business leaders

were asked to assess the defining characteristics of both CEOs

and entrepreneurs. There was a marked difference between the

E

The fame gameAs we all strive to be famous for more than our five

minutes, entrepeneurs are now joining the ranks of

David Beckham and gaining world-wide fame.


30/51

two perceptions, with executives seeing more of a blurring of

the lines between entrepreneurs and business leaders,

heralding the emergence of a more entrepreneurial approach

to business from the next generation of business leaders.

Core skill baseExecutives saw both entrepreneurs and CEOs as strong

communicators, energetic, visionary, flexible, decisive,

intuitive and not independent operators. Executives also

viewed the role of a CEO as including risk taking and

flexibility, which CEOs themselves scored low in the survey as

core skills for themselves.

CEOs see entrepreneurs as passionate, energetic and highly

motivated and identified their key qualities as being visionary,

driven, persistent and decisive.

When respondents were asked which parts of the business

were important in achieving corporate entrepreneurship,interestingly, people and behaviour-related objectives, such as

encouraging ownership (72 per cent) and developing an

entrepreneurial culture (47 per cent), featured more highly

than operational focus areas such as creating and developing

new ventures (39 per cent).

Richard Watts, UK partner at McKinney Rogers, says:

What is interesting about this research in particular is the

openness to entrepreneurs by the less established markets and

also by newer industries such as technology, where the pace

of change necessitates a more maverick, flexible and

innovative approach to business.

For older, more established markets to continue toflourish, they need to keep pace and this means adopting

what is called intrapreneurship injecting some of the core

qualities of an entrepreneur into a large business and adapting

the culture to allow this to sit comfortably.

Gain a real understanding

McKinney Rogers CEO Damian McKinney says: These

results clearly highlight a real understanding across industry

that entrepreneurship has an increasingly important part to

play in driving a successful business. What business leaders

need to understand is that this isnt about recruiting a number

of entrepreneurs and hoping that they will make changes andexpect them to mould to the current culture.

The key is to identifying entrepreneurial qualities in

existing employees creating a culture that supports some of the

innovation, risk-taking and flexibility that is associated with

entrepreneurs empowering people to take ownership for this.

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You have an auditorium of people, youre administer-

ing death by PowerPoint and you know you need to

do something to engage them.

So someone in the audience has an idea and you ask them

if they could sketch it as a diagram. You take a pad over and

a peculiarly thick pen, they scrawl on the paper and it

appears on screen, in real time, as they draw it.

This is because the pen and the USB key youve put intoyour computer comprise PaperShow, a system that takes

whatever is drawn onto the special paper they provide and

puts it onto your laptop screen, and by extension wherever

your laptop display is focused. Its straightforward to use after

a slightly fiddly set-up, in which you have to deactivate your

computers Bluetooth and set up the key as a Bluetooth

receiver instead; once youre over that its a breeze and audi-

ences love it. One user we spoke to said it turned his presen-

tation into a conversation, which is exactly as he wanted it.

Auditorium and keynote speech settings are of course only

one possible use of this gadget. Any setting in which you

want extra participation will make this work. The interface is

a paper pad, so you can pass it around and unlike a white-

board with multiple inputs from tablet computers, whichcould also do the job, this costs 115 per unit. Mac users will

have to wait a few months for their release unless they install

Bootcamp or one of the other PC emulators and install a copy

of Windows, at which point it starts to work beautifully. You

can also use the memory/Bluetooth key for storage for

example, storing your presentation.

TechnologyGuy Clapperton shows you what you need to createthe right impression first time when presenting

If Spring is the season of mellow fruitfulness then the Autumn is when

the exhibitions start up in earnest.

A whole new raft of kit is required to make a companys exhibition presence fly;

this magazine is involved in Business North West and others from late October,

and locking everything down with security hardware from Kensington so it does-

nt go walkies; meanwhile youll need something for a good display, equipment

to help people interact with you in seminars and keep everything charged

Papershow



32/51

Laptop & Display

Logitech has released two new presenter tools for those

auditorium moments when youve seen your competitor

dashing to and from the computer and prodding away to

change to the next slide, or asking a colleague to switch

to the next image.Best for larger gatherings is the Presenter R800. This has

buttons you can operate to change slides, clearly, and also a

timer which vibrates when youre two minute, a minute and

30 seconds away from whenever youre due to finish, and

when it reaches zero it starts to count the minutes so you

know how long youre overrunning. Its reception range is

100 ft, so you can do a lot of wandering around a pretty

substantial room without losing control of your slides, and

its laser pointer is equally visible at a distance. This costs

69.99 and has a smaller sibling, the R400, which has a 50

ft range instead and fewer bells and whistles, costs 44.99

and will still control your presentation without say the tim-ing functions.

Logitech guarantees only that these devices will be com-

patible with PCs, presumably because of warranties and

suchlike; we tried one with a Mac running Powerpoint for

the Mac and it worked perfectly without any problem at all.

Some readers might have tried the PowerPoint controllers

which you can find on (for example) the iPhone. Many of

these have positive feedback and appear to work; they are

third party applications, however, and there is no guaranteethey will work when theres

an upgrade since

none are officially

sanctioned by Mi-

crosoft.

Logitech has also is-

sued some new mice

which are great when you

cant predict what sort of surface

will be available. The Performance

Mouse MX (89.99) and the compact

Anywhere Mouse MX (69.99) both workon smooth glass surfaces, which is usually

death to a mouse, by detecting tiny scratches

and irregularities on the surface.

The temptation, when there are laptops available for

around 300 or small netbooks for under 200, is togo and buy one of those and take that around with

you when youre on the road showing stuff.

The problem with that option is that the displays start to

let you down hooked up to a projector the small sub-200

models often distort the picture and the larger cheap models

are heavy and look distinctly non-businesslike.

Many people your correspondent included opt for

Apple for portability, but this is expensive and will require

an adapter (under 20 from any Apple store but another

layer of fiddling). For easy use with most peripherals like the

aforementioned pointers, mice and Papershow products it

makes sense to stick with PC for the moment, and MSis re-cent X600 laptop releases are a portable weight and have

full spec for a PC. They start at 599 for a model with 320

gigabytes on the disk and no optical drive and move to

799 if you need the CD and 500 gigs of storage as part of

the deal.

In terms of where to send the output, Apple sells excel-

lent quality large displays from its stores (try to avoid

ordering these online or

off the page, if you

can go and see one and check for dead pixels its better

than arranging a product return); many companies offer ex-cellent projectors and recent offerings from Toshiba and

Optoma offer full high-definition compatibility. Optoma

also offers a pocket projector, the Pico, which fits in the

pocket and will take a feed from a portable media player.

This is useful for impromptu presentations when there are

no obvious facilities around,

other than a

wall!

Presenter



33/51

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34/51

"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of

the world."

Cynical bloke, that Hamlet. Personally, I think 2009 has a lot of

promise. Im rather bullish actually. My tracker mortgage has gonedown by two-thirds and with the amount of beer I drink, 2.5 per cent

off VAT makes for a significant saving.

Seriously, money is like water it always finds its own level. Where

it flows out of one asset class and therefore deflating its price, it finds a

level in another thus inflating the price. Sounds easy, but the trick of

course is finding the new fertile pasture.

Of those assets that have been hammered, commodities have been

the most battered with the wheels properly falling off the super-cycle.

And here is my first one. Less than six months ago the price of oil was

$140 a barrel. Way too high. At the time of writing the spot price was

less than $38. Way too low and at that level the big producers will sim-

ply begin to turn off the taps and artificially inflate the price.Thus a nice big buy on a spread bet on the oil price. Shop around

for somewhere with a decent margin. In three months, you may find it

will be back towards a more natural price of around $75.

One place where our liquid money will flow in my view is Africa.

Look for companies like Cussons, which does huge retail business in

the more predictable parts of Africa particularly oil-rich Nigeria

with sensible consumer goods like white goods, non-perishable foods,

soap and household cleaning products.

Graham Benson, serial chairman & executive chairman, TriNorth

Oil that comes from places other than the Gulf , US or former Sovietterritories - already slowly moving in the right direction if still a bit

volatile.

Robbie Burns, professional trader and author The Naked Trader.

Horse weighing under 10st 10lb to win National

Buy Oil price

Buy up all non environmental 100w light bulbs left, set up internet

site to sell them later in year yielding a massive 3X profit. (20% payable

to me, please)

Jason Michelow, accountant and amateur diplomat, Essex.

2009 will show itself to be the year of the dragon.......investor. All

the bottom-of-the-cycle basement bargain prices will be achieved this

year. As a man of property my advice is "buy any high yielding stock in

the UK, USA & Germany.

Ignore claims on 'below market values. In fact, ignore values and

capital calculations completely.

Buy only on yield and rental cover (how much excess income you

have to meet your senior debt costs, expressed as a percentage. 125%is the absolute minimum banks will consider). Enter in commercial

property at risk. Residential will be where it's at as even the unem-

ployed need somewhere to live, but clearly not an office or shop or fac-

tory for the foreseeable future.

Peter Nurse, desk editor and serial poker fish, Dow Jones, London

Im old enough to remember Jim Slaters investment advice for 1974

shotgun cartridges, baked beans and Krugerrand.

But the sensible advice must be corporate bonds still bombed out,

but thats what Id do with money I needed. The big play must be infla-

tion proof assets, for when the governments strategy goes pear shaped

probably next year. 100,000 would probably buy 2 buy-to-let prop-erties from distressed sellers. You may have to wait a bit, but houses can

only remain below their building cost which is what is happening

now for so long.

Lucian Camp, advertising guru and chairman, Tangible Financial

I'd invest it in some reasonably creative and original form of pure

self-indulgence. I loved the thing that guy planned about going to eat

at every 3-star Michelin restaurant, although it was a real shame he

only got half way before something strange happened to him chronic

gout I imagine. Anyone who can string a few words together ought to

be able to make their money back on the book of the adventure, too.

If on the other hand the rules of the game insist that I have to look

for some sort of investment-style return on the money, then no question

that I'd buy land in Iceland. It's really cheap just now - and when that

global warming kicks in, it's going to be extremely attractive real estate.

Philip Martin, self-styled horse-racing genius and founder

and partner, Nucleus Financial, Edinburgh

That was the question that Stephen McDowell, editor in chief of the UKs number one investor website

interactive investor (www.iii.co.uk), asked some of his friends and some of the answers were interesting...

If you had 100,000 what

would you invest it in?



35/51

ord Archer has been quietly

ploughing money into theatri-

cal productions since Lord

Lloyd Webbers Phantom of the

Opera.

He owns 35 per cent of the nationaltour of Sound of Music starring Connie

Fisher who won the part of Maria, the

singing nun, in a reality television show.

The biggest fish is named after Grease.

For good reason.

"I put 150,000 into the stage

production of Grease and have got back

1.5 million so far. It has been a fantastic

success," says Lord Archer. But he has not

always had the Midas touch. He lost

400,000 in a US production of Hello

Dolly.Lord Archer is working on a series of

short stories, writing in long hand with a

felt tip pen, in a study in the grounds of

the Old Vicarage at Grantchester. The

study, with its Pugin furniture, has echoes

of his time as an MP which ended in

financial ruin in 1974 and his 12 years as

a member of the House of Lords. His

second parliamentary career may yet be

brought to an end if ministers carry out

their threat to pass legislation banning

convicted criminals from the upperhouse.

On his desk is a new cover for his

1979 thriller Kane and Abel which has

been reprinted 84 times, and sold more

than 33 million copies. Lord Archer has

rewritten it to mark the 30th anniversary

of its original publication.

"I thought I would have another go at

it. I gave myself three weeks to read and

correct it." Nine months and 500 hoursand it was completed. It is now 7,000

words shorter.

"It is pacier, faster, as I am now a better

craftsman," said Lord Archer. "But the plot

and the ending are the same. Kane and

Abel changed my whole life. I bought the

Old Vicarage with it. I went from nothing

to a millionaire in 24 hours."

Lord Archer knows he will never win

an award from the critics for his prose but

if there were a Nobel Prize for storytelling

he would have won it years ago. He hassold more than 250 million books and is

in the top 10 best selling authors in the

world.

Lord Archer, by his own admission, has

had a roller coaster of a life which could

have come straight from the pages of one

of his novels. After his writing success

Margaret Thatcher made him deputy

chairman of the Conservative Party. He

stood down when he successfully sued a

newspaper which alleged he had paid for

sex with a prostitute. He bounced backagain to become a confidant of John

Major and was the overwhelming choice

of the party faithful to become the Tories

first candidate in the 1999 London

mayoral contest. But Lord Archer, hailed

by William Hague as a "man of

outstanding integrity," crashed and burned

again when he was sentenced to four

years in jail for perjury over his liaison

with that same prostitute 15 years earlier.Since his release Lord Archer has

turned his back on politics and dedicated

himself to writing and raising money for

charity as an auctioneer 2.2 million

last year. "Now that politics is out of the

way I enjoy writing even more," he said.

But he is still a member of two

Conservative associations, and has regular

lunches with members of the shadow

cabinet. He hardly knows David Cameron

but is not convinced he has what it takes

to succeed. "I was shocked by the recentopinion poll in The Daily Telegraph which

showed we have made no progress in

Scotland or the north of England. When I

was deputy chairman I could travel from

Glasgow to Edinburgh without leaving

Tory land. In a two-week period I covered

every constituency in which we had an

MP. T

Documents

Angels - November '09