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Marc Barber

Marc Barber

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Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

News

Minimum wage laws flouted

British workers were underpaid to the tune of over £3 million by employers paying below the minimum wage last year, with some outrageous excuses (including ‘they are a total waste of space – they do not deserve it,’) being offered, according to HM Revenue & Customs.

News

Biocare for AIM

Biocare Solutions, the developer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly household cleaning products, is seeking to raise £6.25 million ahead of an expected AIM float later this month. KBC Peel Hunt will act as broker and adviser.

Legislation and Regulation

Renegotiating signed deals

As a business owner you will be required sign hundreds of contractual agreements with suppliers, customers and shareholders. But what happens if circumstances change and you want to get out of a contract?

News

Skills crisis in Britain

One in three employers refuse to train their staff, according to a report from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which claims this is creating a skills crisis in Britain and leaves over eight million untrained. The TUC report, 2020 Vision for Skills, reveals 8,377,200 workers have not been trained.

News

TriVest’s special delivery

TriVest – the venture capital trust co-managed by private equity firms Matrix, Foresight and Nova – has completed a profitable exit from Secure Mail Services, the Northampton-based provider of specialist mail and package delivery services. On Matrix’s advice, TriVest backed the business in 2002 and has seen the value of its stake rise from an initial £1.3 million to £4.2 million in that time.

Exit Strategies

One business, numerous careful owners

A spin-out that has successfully negotiated its start-up and early stage funding may well have a varied group of investors. This can include the originating university, one or more business angels, venture capitalists as well as the academic entrepreneurs themselves.

Exit Strategies

From labs to riches – How to ensure spin-out success

The difficulty of raising venture capital in recent years has made things much tougher for the entrepreneurial academic looking to turn a scientific breakthrough into a commercial business. However, for a research team that is really convinced that it has a world-beating product on its hands, it is possible to make the transition, but several success factors have to be in place.

PR and Marketing Strategy

Corporate hospitality

Despite the vast sums of money lavished on clients, suppliers and prospects each year by blue-chip companies, corporate hospitality suffers from a mixed reputation.

Entrepreneurs

Alistair Baker: Entrepreneurial to the core

Alistair Baker, the innovator who has led Microsoft UK for the past two years, talks to GrowthBusiness about leadership, change-management and how the corporation is more than geared up for the next great turn in the technology cycle.

Financial Management

Managing your personal wealth

For most entrepreneurs, the biggest issue in managing personal wealth during the early years of their business is the fact that nearly all their wealth is locked into the venture.

Growth Planning

Financing growth and acquiring debt

Debt finance is relatively cheap and readily available to fund growth. But a recent surge in debt trading could put your equity at risk from acquisitive hedge funds if you fail to meet the targets and covenants agreed with your bankers.

Company Flotations

Our float experience – Listing on the London Stock Exchange case study

The UK's second largest leather sofa retailer, Land of Leather, floated in July 2005 in a tough retail climate.