How to blog?

We are here to help your tech business succeed. If you have news on how your company is growing, has specific needs or love to share your experience, why not use our blog to get your message out. Before you can blog,

1. Open a free account
2. Let us know of your desire to blog by advising us your username, so that we can upgrade your account.
3. Click on here to write your blog post.
4. Add HTML code snippets from Youtube, edocr.com and flicker to embed videos, documents and pictures.

New Manchester fibre deployment brings additional services to Manchester businesses

Posted by HelenSimpson on Friday 10th of December 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

HelenSimpson's picture

The growing business hub of Manchester is a key strategic target for Exponential-e. The service provider’s customers, which include businesses of all sizes across every sector as well as ISPs and other telecoms companies, all rely on Exponential-e to provide next generation Ethernet and WAN solutions nationally.

“We have pent up demand in the region which we can now satisfy. Our network extension is an excellent investment and one which we know will benefit the business community throughout Manchester. Connectivity into our network and our portfolio of services is now easy, local and affordable in Manchester,” said Mukesh Bavisi, Director of Networks & Services, Exponential-e.

Exponential-e’s network provides resilient, ultra-fast and reliable networking. Combined with a strong set of innovative services, its customers benefit from highly responsive ICT at aggressive prices. Exponential-e made connecting the regional hub with the rest of its network a key priority.

Critical to the decision was finding a fibre provider able to deliver to the tight deadlines at the right quality levels dictated by customer orders.

“Geo has proven itself as a reliable fibre provider to us over the last few years. However, the key factor we were looking for was the ability to hit the ground running and deliver in a short time frame. Geo ensured pre-mobilisation work started immediately. They understood our customer-driven approach and were able to demonstrate a commitment to delivering on time,” said Bavisi.

The new network will provide Exponential-e with ultra-fast, scalable dark fibre connectivity in the North West area. Geo had recently extended its 3000km core network to incorporate connectivity into IFL3, Manchester.

Geo Chief Executive, Chris Smedley said, “We’re delighted to have Exponential-e as our first customer into IFL3. We’re seeing an increase in demand for connection into data centres beyond the M25. Manchester, with its new MediaCity site and fibre broadband projects including MDDA’s Oxford Street pilot, is clearly attracting data-intensive businesses. We understand the nature of Exponential-e’s business and the importance they place on providing robust communications infrastructure to their customers. Our approach is to ensure their exact requirements are delivered on time with the best in value and quality. I’m proud to see, once again, that Geo was selected based on both the reliability of its network and their belief in our ability to deliver exactly what the customer wants.”

Manchester Science Park Targets Companies with new Media Server Offer

Posted by GemmaSeaton on Monday 6th of December 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

GemmaSeaton's picture

msp targets digital media companies with new media server offer

Manchester Science Parks (msp) has teamed up with its tenant, Melbourne Server Hosting, to create a high-speed broadband and media server offer that will benefit existing tenants on its Corridor site and make it the ideal location for digital and creative companies.

The Hut Group Acquire Mankind Direct Limited, Making Group Largest Health & Beauty Retailer Online

Posted by superuser on Monday 6th of December 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

The Hut Group Acquire Mankind Direct Limited, Making Group Largest Health & Beauty Retailer Online

December 1, 2010

On Thursday 25th November, The Hut Group acquired Mankind Direct Limited (incorporating www.Mankind.co.uk & www.BeautyExpert.co.uk) for £2.5m cash. Mankind Direct is the UK’s largest male Health & Beauty business, generating £5m in sales over the last 12 months and bringing with it a fantastic range of luxury brands. Following the acquisition of Look Fantastic Group earlier this month, The Hut Group is now by far the UK’s largest online retailer in both Women’s and Men’s Health & Beauty, with annual Health & Beauty sales of more than £25m.

About The Hut Group

Founded in 2004 and based in Northwich Cheshire, The Hut Group is an online retailing platform focused on fast moving consumer goods including Entertainment (Games, DVDs, CDs, Books), Electricals, Gadgets, Health & Beauty, Footwear, Gifting, Accessories, Toys, Underwear & Sports.

The Hut Group retails online through its own sites including TheHut.com, Zavvi.com, lookfantastic.com, Iwantoneofthose.com, Gifted.com, MyBag.co.uk, Washbag.com, lookmantastic.com In addition it delivers online retail solutions for blue-chip retail partners such as ASDA, Woolworths, Argos, Tesco, WHSmith & N Brown Group.

In September 2009, The Hut Group was ranked no.1 in the ‘Sunday Times Tech Track 100 of the UK’s fastest growing companies’ and ranked the 3rd fastest growing digital company in Europe at the ‘GP Bullhound Media Momentum Awards’ in May 2010.

For further information, please visit www.thehutgroup.com.

Please find below a list of websites owned by The Hut Group. For more information please visit their websites:

www.allsole.com
www.beautyexpert.co.uk
www.beautysleuth.co.uk
www.gifted.com
www.iwantoneofthose.com
www.lookfantastic.com
www.lookmantastic.com
www.mankind.co.uk
www.mybag.co.uk
www.thehut.com
www.washbag.com
www.zavvi.com

NetServices renames as Accumuli, suspends shares, acquires Tuscany and readmit to AIM

Posted by superuser on Monday 29th of November 2010 | 1 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Zeus Capital advises on £4 million acquisition and £5 million placing

Zeus Capital, the Manchester based Corporate Finance advisory firm, has advised Accumuli plc on the £4million acquisition of Tuscany Networks Limited and £5million institutional placing.

Accumuli, which has its headquarter in Salford and led by Ian Smith, is a “buy and build” company focused on acquiring companies in the Managed Security Services sector of the Information Communications and Technology market.

The acquisition of Tuscany Networks is the first in Accumuli’s new buy and build strategy which was announced in July 2010. Tuscany was established in 1996 in response to the steady growth of IP networks and the need for products and tools to allocate and manage IP addresses across an organisation. Tuscany now acts as a reseller of Alcatel-Lucent and Infoblox products, two of the leading software and hardware developers in the IPAM industry. In addition, it has developed software that integrates with these solutions to allow for additional functionality in order to improve the management of these solutions for the end user. Tuscany has a team with specialist experience in the IT infrastructure solutions market who provide ongoing support, maintenance and consultancy services to customers.

“Richard Hughes, Head of Zeus Capital said “Tremayne is recognised as an established and well-respected corporate financier across the North of England. His appointment reflects our willingness to invest and ambition to grow Zeus by strengthening our offering to both existing and new clients”.

Graham Norfolk, Chairman of Accumuli, said:

“We are pleased to be recommending our first acquisition prospect to Accumuli shareholders following the change of strategic direction for the group. We believe Tuscany is a well positioned, growing business operating in a growing market. The acquisition of Tuscany, if approved, marks the first step in our plan to create an Enlarged Group with a full range of services and product offerings in the Managed IT Security Services sector. We have identified several other potential acquisition targets and expect to complete two further acquisitions before the end of Q1 2011.

Richard Hughes from Zeus Capital commented

“We have known Ian Smith and his team for several years and are pleased to have been able to support him and raise these funds for a very interesting buy and build strategy in the Managed Security Services Sector. This is Zeus’ 13th transaction for companies on AIM in 2010.”

Zeus Capital acted as Nominated Adviser and Broker to Accumuli plc. The deal team comprised of Alex Clarkson, Ross Andrews and Nick Cowles.

Best of Silicon Valley comes to Cambridge

Posted by superuser on Sunday 21st of November 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Interview with Reid Hoffman (Linkedin)

Reid is co-founder and Executive Chairman of LinkedIn, Partner at Greylock and Co-Chairman of Silicon Valley Comes to Cambridge.


from ITV.com

Interview with Sherry Coutu

Sherry is serial Entrepreneur and Co-Chairman of Silicon Valley Comes to Cambridge.


from ITV.com

Interview with Megan Smith (Google)

Megan Smith is Vice President, News Business Development and General Manager - Google.org


from ITV.com

Interview with Mike Schroepfer (Facebook)

Mike is Head of Enginering at Facebook.


from ITV.com

Other coverage

+ @nero of Telegraph Cambridge starts taking the internet seriously

Win a stand at Technology World 2010 London

Posted by superuser on Friday 19th of November 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Technology World and UK Nano & Emerging Technologies Forum have been combined to create one major 2-day event that showcases the best of UK science and technology to an international audience. Last year the two events jointly attracted over 1700 visitors from 38 countries, facilitated more than 3,000 meetings and generated an estimated £118 million of business transactions.

This year over 350 overseas delegates have already registered to attend including DoCoMo, Ericsson, KDDI, Megafon, China Unicom and delegates from the Sochi 2014 Technical Committee.

how to enter the competition for a complementary stand?

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is announcing plans to publish a broadband strategy paper in December, following the news last month that the government will invest £530 million in the improvement of the UK’s broadband infrastructure.

Earlier this year, the coalition government pledged that the UK would have “the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015”. BIS’s forthcoming paper will outline the government’s strategy for achieving this aim, through stimulation of public-private investment and the removal of barriers to broadband rollout in the ‘final third’ of the country and broadband ‘not spots’.

The platform that Technology World offers presents an excellent opportunity to network with like-minded companies that are following this announcement and showcase broadband technologies that potentially provide societal benefits in the UK and exploitation opportunities overseas.

UKTI is working with the DCKTN to help ensure that the UK cluster is represented and ready for the launch of the Broadband Strategy Review.

To take advantage of this great opportunity the DCKTN, BIS and UKTI are encouraging companies to book stand space in a specially designated area called the Digitally Connected zone at Technology World. BIS will have a representative available for parts of the show to discuss the latest developments and they can be accessed through the DCKTN stand.

DCKTN, BIS and UKTI have also agreed to run a competition for five complementary stands for UK SME’s to help demonstrate the UK's broadband delivery. Entry to the competition is free and the five winners will be allocated a 3 x 3 metre stand and two free delegate passes for the event. 10 runners up will each receive a free delegate pass.

Each 3 metre x 3 metre stand will include the following:

2 spot lights
2 13-amp power sockets
Velcro acceptable walls
Fascia name plate (printed by UKTI)
1 table and 2 chairs
2 complimentary 2-day delegate passes

The criteria is:

1) Must be an SME (<250 people), larger companies can apply jointly or as part of a collaboration with an SME. The SME must be conducting R&D in the UK
2) SME must be offering products and services related to Broadband Wireless and/or fixed solutions. These can be ready now or still in the R&D phase.
3) Have a demo which can be shown on the stand – entries will be judged on how compelling the technology or service capability to address NGA plans are.
4) Available to man the stand and demo for the two full days of the show. 7th and 8th Dec 2010.

Entries must be received before 24th November 2010 @ 1700, the competition entries will be judged in a closed door session and the winners and runners up will be announced on the 26th November 2010.

To enter please download the Excel form from the Digital Communications KTN document library click Here... and email the completed form by 5.00PM on the 24th November ’10 – to techworldfreestandcomp@dcktn.org.uk

For any questions related to the competition please contact Kathryn Veares at the DCKTN – kathryn.veares@dcktn.org.uk

All companies can book space directly for the event using a special promotional code to support this activity providing a 20% discount off the current advertised price saving almost £260 for an exhibitor. Two complementary delegate passes are included. The Digitally Connected zone at Technology World is the area containing the following stand numbers: 7-8, 11-13, 14-17, 18-27, 28-31 and 48-49

To book space www.technologyworld.uk.com/exhibiting/book-a-stand.aspx

Please use DCKTN promotional code isSTK0013 to benefit from this.

Contact:

Stuart Revell
Mobile +44 (0) 7836 512787
Email stuart.revell@rtacs.com

Insider Deal Maker Awards 2010 North West

Posted by superuser on Friday 19th of November 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Deal of the Year

Winner: Pets at Home sale to KKR
A mega deal won through, proving possibly that size matters. It represented a very well run process to either float the business or sell to American private equity. Well done to all those involved in a massive deal.
Shortlisted: Exit of Survitec by Montagu, Klarius acquisition of Quinton Hazell, sale of Travel Jigsaw to Priceline.com by ISIS, pre-IPO fund raising of the Hut, sale of Peel Airports to Vancouver Airport Services
Sponsored by: The Co-operative Bank

Fund of the Year

Winner: North West Interim Venture Capital Loan Fund, managed by YFM
Well done to YFM Group which has made some very canny investments on top of a steady stream of returns from this fund, as well as their other funds.
Shortlisted: Rising Stars Growth Fund, managed by Enterprise Ventures
Sponsored by: Centric Commercial Finance

New Technology Deal of the Year


Winner: Fundraising for Redx Pharma
YFM’s backing of Redx through the Interim VC fund collected many votes as the top technology deal as it seeks to create new medicines.
Shortlisted: Eosemi (fundraising), Expansys (acquisition of two companies)
Sponsored by: The North West Fund

Turnaround/Rescue Deal of the Year


Winner: Refinancing of Crown Paints by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Endless
Royal Bank of Scotland backed Crown Paints at a crucial point with a £25m asset backed lend.
Shortlisted: Acquisition of Trutex by Endless
Sponsored by: MC2

Small Deal of the Year

Winner: Sale by Furnace Construction to Matthews International (George Davies Solicitors and Lupton Fawcett)
This well established family business was sold to an American buyer. Small and medium sized companies and small deals are the backbone of the economy.
Shortlisted: Investment by ISIS into Getting Personal, Disposal by TAG of Capital Safety Group, Purchase of Crawford Healthcare from York Pharma, Reverse takeover of Ashley Commercial Finance
Sponsored by: Handelsbanken

Aim Deal of the Year

Winner: The Float of Xcap Securities
Xcap Securities raised £5m in a tough period in the market and has brought a new financial business to the region.
Shortlisted: Sale of Braemar Group to Brooks McDonald, Reverse takeover and fundraising of EKF Diagnostics, Reverse takeover of Ashley Commercial Finance, Delisting of Accuma
Sponsored by: Grant Thornton

Banking Team of the Year

Winner: The Royal Bank of Scotland
Well done to the RBS team, backers of important North West businesses over the year including Crown Paints, Matalan, Chess Telecom, NWF and the Authentic Food Company.
Shortlisted: Lloyds TSB, Yorkshire Bank, The Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Barclays
Sponsored by: Rapport

Transaction Services Team of the Year

Winner: KPMG
Across the north as a whole the team at KPMG has done 45 deals, 17 in private equity, and two floats and several refinancings.
Shortlisted: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Mazars
Sponsored by: Leumi ABL

Asset Based Lender of the Year

Winner: Burdale Financial
Judith McMath and her team have been strong supporters of Klarius Group as they bought Quinton Hazell from the Affinia Group and gave them good cover to look to the future.
Shortlisted: Positive Cashflow, Leumi ABL, Aldermore Invoice Finance, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Venture Finance
Sponsored by: DLA Piper

Private Equity Team of the Year

Winner: Zeus Private Equity
Garry Tipper and his team have done deals across the country and did very well with XLN Telecom, making four and a half times their investment. Well done.
Shortlisted: Barclays Private Equity, LDC, Inflexion, Gresham
Sponsored by: Cobbetts LLP

Corporate Law Firm of the Year

Winner: Hill Dickinson
The team at Hill Dickinson have burnt the midnight oil acting for Klarius Group on their ongoing acquisitions of spare part businesses. Keep bolting on….
Shortlisted: Turner Parkinson, Cobbetts LLP, Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons
Sponsored by: Credit Suisse

Corporate Finance Advisory Team of the Year

Winner: KPMG
KPMG’s team worked on nine deals in the first six months of the year, winning out in a strong category that also included Rothschild, which acted on the biggest deal of the year in this region.
Shortlisted: Clearwater, Rothschild, Deloitte, Altium, Ford Campbell
Sponsored by: KBC Business Capital

K3 Busines Technology Group acquires Panacea

Posted by superuser on Thursday 18th of November 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

K3 Business Technology Group plc ("K3" or "the Group") Announces Acquisition of Manager Services Provider, Panacea Ltd

About K3 BTG

K3, which supplies and supports Microsoft-based Enterprise Resource Planning software to the supply chain industry, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Panacea Ltd ("Panacea"), the managed services and IT solutions provider. The total consideration for the acquisition is £1.7 million payable in cash on completion together with repayment of Panacea's overdraft of £0.5 million. K3 management views the acquisition as a material development in the growth of its managed services and hosting activities.

Based in Hampshire, Panacea provides managed services and IT solutions to the distribution, retail and hospitality sectors. For the year to 31 December 2008, Panacea generated sales of £9.58 million and an underlying operating profit of £0.57 million. Some 47% of annual revenues are recurring and for 2008 totalled £4.5 million, from a customer base of approximately 260, including many well known high street retailers. Panacea's managed services activities account for approximately half its revenues, with the balance largely derived from its Applications Solutions & CRM Division built around Microsoft Dynamics and Sage.

The addition of Panacea more than doubles the Group's existing managed services revenues and extends the range of K3's managed services offering. Combined K3 and Panacea revenue will total c.£7 million per annum and K3 management also sees the opportunity to offer K3's hosting services to Panacea's 260 strong customer base.

Andy Makeham, Chief Executive of K3, said, "I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Panacea. Its addition is strategically important as we drive the growth of our managed services and hosting activities. Panacea not only more than doubles the size of, and extends, our existing hosting and managed services business but also brings us recurring income from a large, high quality customer base.

While Panacea's managed services offering is more extensive than K3's, Panacea has not, as yet, offered application hosting services to its customer base and we see an opportunity to bring our hosting offering to its customers. Uptake of this will add to K3's recurring annual revenues, which currently accounts for approximately 40% of K3's total income."

€3m first closing of Seedcamp’s second fund

Posted by superuser on Thursday 18th of November 2010 | 0 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Article below was extracted from Seedcamp's blog

Firepower for Seedcamp's International Platform

ReshmaSohoni's picture

We have evolved Seedcamp into an intensive and productive experience for entrepreneurs to tap into an international platform of mentors to get great advice, build an awesome network, get validation and gain access to capital. At Seedcamp Week in September we were thrilled to announce the strengthening of our team with Carlos and Phillip coming on board to further build out Seedcamp’s international reach and capabilities to support the entrepreneurs, mentors and investors we work with better.

This expanded team is the foundation for us being able to better support every year: the thousands of applications we receive across 11 geographies, our network of 2,000 local mentors, the 200 teams we meet, and the investments that we make and support.
Now, we’re delighted to announce the €3m first closing of Seedcamp’s second fund.

What are our plans for the new funds?

Simple: (1) make more investments and (2) strengthen the breadth and depth of our international platform.

Our first closing is already 50% larger than the first fund we raised in 2007 – this is great news because it means that we can invest in more of the 200 teams we meet and mentor every year through our Mini Seedcamps.

In our first fund, we were able to invest in 22 companies. Already in our second fund we have been able to invest in 11 companies and we are likely to be able to at least treble that number over the next few years.

It seems that every year, the quality of teams gets better. We are continually blown away by the talent we see in every location we visit. This is true in both our mainstream hubs like London, Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv as well as the regional events we also host in the Nordics, the Balkans, Central Europe and now in Singapore, Johannesburg and Mumbai.
The teams from our first fund came from 12 countries and it was s surprise to many that the teams who attracted top-tier venture backing came from Estonia, Romania and Slovenia. In fact 19 of the 22 companies received more than an aggregate of €15m in follow-on funding, created over 100 jobs and two teams so far - Jordan’s Talasim and Palo Alto’s Mobclix – had successful exits.

Seedcamp is an international network both by design and necessity. The fragmentation in the European market required us to bring a network together and it has been a blessing we have embraced. In fact since 2007, we have grown from our original roots in London, Paris, Berlin into the rest of continental Europe and now into a truly international platform supporting entrepreneurs with on the ground networks from San Francisco and New York to Tel Aviv, Mumbai and Singapore.

We have only been able to do this with the support of: our fantastic initial investors; superb and increasingly creative collaboration with corporate partners including Google, Microsoft,IBM and Paypal; and an amazing collection of mentors who offer time, energy and expertise to help build the next generation of great start-ups. Thank you to you all.
But when we raised our first fund over the summer in 2007 we didn’t have the chance to really extend the reach of our investor as widely as we would have liked. So we are thrilled to welcome new investors in our second fund who further this goal of being deep, not shallow, in local markets.

New additions like Notion Capital, 360 Capital Partners, management team of Team Europe, Ahti Heinla and Lars Hinrichs bring even more of an international and entrepreneurial dimension to Seedcamp – we welcome them, thank our mentors and returning investors and look forward to bringing on additional new investors in the months to come.

We started Seedcamp with a big vision and a long-term ambition – we continue to recognize that we are at the beginning of this journey but we are excited that an international platform is starting to fall into place to let the next great founders from Amman or Tallin continue to launch products in London, raise money in NY, Silicon Valley, or Europe, and have a network to support them wherever they want to do business.

A quick guide to the VAT rate change

Posted by superuser on Wednesday 17th of November 2010 | 4 Comment(s)

superuser's picture

Crowe Clark Whitehill: VAT rate change

The standard rate of VAT increases from 17.5% to 20% on 4 January 2011. The reduced rate (5%), the zero rate and current exemptions are not affected by the change.