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THE BusinessTM MAGAZINE THAMES VALLEY www.businessmag.co.uk AN ELCOT PUBLICATIONS TITLE DECEMBER 10/JANUARY 11 #183 £2.50 Blooming brilliant Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards winners Daylight on deals scene Corporate finance special PLUS: International trade, planning, law, people and more turner Your choicechoice boyes regular features News 4 Opinion – Let’s be positive 4 Oxford healthcare innovation centre 5 Law firms see decline in income 6 PMI brings good news of south east 7 UK’s first National School of Furniture 8 University reaches telecomms agreement for courses 8 Grant Thornton joins 250 supporters 9 Shareleague 9 Beware of giving bad references 10 Racecourse redevelopment scheme 11 Ten deals in 10 weeks in 2010 Deals Update 12 Latest deals data from across the region The Business Magazine 14 Going Digital Law 31 Guildford offices relocation for TWM Solicitors 32 Legal teams underline business success p 47 32 Blandy & Blandy’s new appointments 33 Corporate compliance – so much to think about Employment Planning 48 What’s in store for 2011? 34 Thieves, fraudsters and drug dealers... now, planning offenders People Technology 48 Movers and risers 42 20 years in a fast-changing world 42 Calling all technology successes Diary 49 Dates for your diary International Trade 43 ‘Meet the buyer’ 43 Selling into our biggest export market 44 Good news for businesses wishing to expand foreign trade Property special features 46 Krannich Solar powers in to Suttons Business Park 46 Country Estates branches out into residential development Corporate Finance Hospitality 15 Deals are definitely back 47 Vintage year ahead for two award-winning venues 16 Vital link in the chain 17 Due diligence... avoid cost and delay 17 Increase in warranty claims? 18 Growing team for growing times 19 Changing the face of corporate finance 20 The future appears brighter all round 21 Young Entrepreneur winner announced 22 Selling your business? 22 Are opportunities out there for the entrepreneur? 24 Who’s going to make the first move? 25 What to do when the banks won’t lend 26 Deferred consideration loan notes 27 Formation of Transcend Corporate Finance 28 Debtors in finacial trouble? – what to look for 30 The power to help you succeed 31 Investment provides platform to expand Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 2010 35 Full details of the winners and finalists p 14 www.businessmag.co.uk 4 news opinion Let’s be positive. As we end one year and plan for the next, let’s decide that we are going to carry an optimistic From left: John Anson (Oxford Gene Technologies), Bass Hassan (University of Oxford), David outlook into 2011 Doughty (Oxford Economic Partnership), Alastair Buchan (head of Medical Sciences, University of Oxford), Pancras Hogendoorn (Leiden University Medical School, leader of the HealthTIES consortium) Why, you may ask? Because sentiment is so important. Economists will tell you that Plans for Oxford to become US-style they can predict future trends based on past performances; they can factor in all kinds of centre for healthcare innovation variables. But the one thing that can fundamentally change an Oxford could become a world centre colleges with the mayors of Oxford The Oxfordshire region, which is economic picture is sentiment. for developing new healthcare and Leiden in attendance. synonymous with excellence in Get business people and advances and technologies, if plans education, healthcare, and science, The HealthTIES consortium links being drawn up with European is perfectly poised to benefit consumers thinking positively clusters of universities, biotech Commission funding come to pass. through potential job creation and and there will be more activity, companies and the healthcare implementation of cutting-edge more deals, more growth. The blueprint will detail how the sector in Europe’s top regions medical practice.” It’s stating the bleeding obvious, University, new biotech companies in biosciences: Medical Delta in of course, but sometimes on the region’s science parks, and southwest Netherlands (the project The Oxford part of the European reminding ourselves of larger hospitals and healthcare leaders), Oxford in the UK, Zurich in project, involving the University, something we already know is a providers can be brought together Switzerland, Barcelona in Spain, and Oxford Gene Technology, the worthwhile exercise. to drive new research advances to Debrecen in Hungary. Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, market. and the Thames Valley Health At The Business Magazine we are These regions will work together Innovation and Education Cluster, fortunate to rub shoulders with The aim is to make Oxford a to create a blueprint for the will initially gather information about many successful companies successful health technology hub partnerships, infrastructure and what is already being done. It will across the south. Last month, modelled on those found in the US in investment necessary to create then address what is needed in we staged the Thames Valley Boston, San Francisco and San Diego. successful clusters in developing terms of skills, infrastructure, and Business Magazine Awards, All of these established centres are innovative new technologies for mechanisms to make it easier to take where 38 of the finest built around world-class research society’s most pressing health research ideas and turn them into shortlisted companies came universities, a thriving environment concerns. The focus will be on companies that employ staff, sell together for the 16th annual for start-up companies and a culture four disease areas: heart disease, products and benefit patients. gala awards evening. of innovation and investment. cancer, neurodegenerative diseases including dementia, and infectious Oxford University is already “If we as a region are to become In the Solent region, we diseases. successful on a national scale when launched the Solent 250, a a major hub for novel biotech it comes to exploiting new scientific listing of the top 250 private advances, we need to ask what we The blueprint is intended to guide ideas and techniques. A recent companies in the area. These need to do, what infrastructure later public and private funding report into life science start-ups e are companies with a combined we require and how we can that could be as much as 300- suggests that Oxford University is annual turnover of some £10.7 improve training in innovation 400 million to drive healthcare doing particularly well in turning billion, businesses making and enterprise,” says Professor Bass innovation in Europe. good ideas into companies, coming Hassan of the University of Oxford. a major contribution to the Oxford Gene Technology on ‘way out in front of the pack’ ahead economy of the south. “And as a University, our best minds Begbroke Science Park is an example of Imperial and Cambridge. We are co-ordinating many also need to be innovating. Of of what can be achieved. Founded more initiatives and events course we need to continue securing in 1995 as a spin-out from Oxford in 2011. We do this because, research funding to do the best blue- University, its growth has been Details: Professor Bass Hassan 07739-113503 as the independent voice sky science as we are doing already. achieved by licensing technology to [email protected] of business in the south, we But we also need a strategic plan, a companies and it is now delivering like to shout about success, funding mechanism and a structure genetic products and services to and applaud innovation and to interact with our local partners clinics, directly aiding patient care. and turn that research funding into entrepreneurialism. Dr John Anson, vice president wealth creation.” In the February issue of It’s in our nature, and we Biomarker Discovery at Oxford Gene The Business Magazine hope it strikes a chord with The project comes as part of a wider Technology, said: “In the current • Meetings & Your Business you too. And on that note, a European initiative called HealthTIES economic climate, programmes • HR Focus Merry Christmas and a Happy, that has obtained 32 million funding such as HealthTIES are essential to • Funding your Business Prosperous New Year to all our over three years from the European encourage the formation of effective readers and advertisers. Commission in order to draw up a public-private partnerships that can For more details plan with other partners. A launch deliver faster and more cost-effective call: 0118-9745308 David Murray, Publisher for HealthTIES Oxford was held last translation of innovative new or email: [email protected] month at Corpus Christi and Lincoln technologies to medical practice. www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 10/JANUARY 11 news 5 THE Law firms see BusinessTM decline in income, MAGAZINE:DIGITAL Read these stories in full in this month’s issue of The Business Magazine:Digital survey shows at www.businessmag.co.uk Don’t add ‘greenwash’ to your product Most UK law firms have seen fee earner numbers, with the Ethical branding in food and drink can attract customers, but they will a decline in fee income in the Top 10 scaling back by, on see through any image that seems like an afterthought. The key is to past year, driven by downward average, 6% compared to the make it personal and relevant, argues Tom Ellis... pressure on pricing, coupled 10% average reduction for the December’s business app of the month with a general contraction in 11-25 firms. the international legal market, Welcome to the new regular feature in The Business Magazine:Digital The survey indicates that according to PwC’s 2010 law – business app of the month, sponsored by MEPC Chineham Park. support staff levels were firms survey. reduced in greater proportion Booking a Page-turning investment As a response to the fall in than fee earners, supported Guildford: At a time when investors are looking for alternative revenues resulting from the in part by greater use of investments, many are now considering the collectables market..