Simply Business Access to Finance Debate
As the UK's only online provider of comparative business insurance and finance products the issue of 'Access to Finance' for the UK's enterprise community is very close to our heart.
Feedback from our customers led us to start more in-depth research into the issue and particularly the government's role in financially supporting new businesses and ultimately encouraging entrepreneurialism in the UK.
Summary of Event
A roundtable conference with a collection of industry experts to debate the current structure and the potential improvements that should be made if the country wants to meet its stated target of "Making the UK the place to start and grow a business".
Attending the Debate
Brad Liebmann - CEO, Simply Business
Brad founded Simply Business' parent company Xbridge in 2000. Prior to Xbridge,
Brad spent eight years advising technology companies in Europe and North America
for Lehman Brothers, where he was Senior Vice President of Technology Mergers & Acquisitions.
Brad graduated with honours from the MBA program at the New York University Stern School of
Business and the London Business School.
Robert Lefroy - Group Editor, Business Money Ltd
Bob Lefroy spent 28 years as a business banker and in 1993 launched the first dedicated commercial finance journal in the UK. Bob's considerable experience in banking taught him that good financial judgement relies on high quality and timely market information so he set about producing a single source for financial executives to quickly access the information they need. Business Money is now the industry journal in commercial finance and business banking and is subscribed to by the commercial lending industry, business finance support professionals, commercial finance intermediaries and financial decision makers.
Alex Ball - Independent Consultant
Alex has occupied senior and line management positions for Lucas, Kodak, Beecham, Selfridges, Richard Costain and EMI Overseas. Alex was one of the first non- Chartered Accountants to work for Price Waterhouse and was a senior Economic & Management Consultant for a high level unit inside the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It was because of his 'small & global' experience that Alex was seconded to draft Working Papers which eventually gestated into the Small Firms Loan Guarantee programme. Alex now only works on projects of interest including the availability and pricing of global energy, low cost aviation and surface transport, small businesses doing the impossible and the ever present closure threats to his local Crewkerne Cottage Hospital.
Ian Patterson - Lloyds TSB Business Banking
Ian is the area director for Business Banking for outer London and Thames Valley, which targets the start-up market and companies with turnovers exceeding £2million. Ian has had a career at Lloyds spanning the last 30 years, during which time he has held positions within Lloyds TSB Retail Banking, Business Banking and Head office operations.
Paul Coleman - Finance South East
After qualifying as a chartered engineer, Paul received an MBA at Cranfield. He then worked with a leading venture capital institution for several years followed by some time in corporate finance with a leading firm of accountants. In recent years he has worked with Business Link in London and Oxford and latterly with Finance South East helping small and medium enterprises access appropriate finance. He also manages the business angel network at Finance South East. He lives in the Chiltern Hills at Berkhamsted and likes travel, gardening and crosswords.
Mike Cherry - Federation of Small Business
Mike is married with 3 children, left school in 1970 to enter family business in manufacturing, took over as Managing Director in 1983. Gained a commission in the TA and remained for 4 years until business had to take a priority. Has been a member of the FSB for 11 yrs and has been Chairman of the West Midlands Policy Unit since 2003. Chairman of the FSB's new National Financial Affairs Committee covering Pensions, Banking, Insurance, and Company Law. Mike is passionate about getting the message over that small businesses are not just small big businesses. He is a Certified Member of the Institute of Wood Science, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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