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The looming onset of Brexit is currently casting a shadow over the business world.  And in these uncertain times it can be difficult to decide what is the best option for your company.  Should you be preparing to sell your business and cash out, or should you be trying to grow your business with an acquisition?  Is now the right time to sell or are potential purchasers wary of committing to growth themselves?  Should you be looking to acquire another business as a ‘bolt-on’ to grow your business and make it more attractive to potential purchasers?  And are businesses currently under performing as everyone delays their decision to see what the outcome of Brexit will finally be.

A way forward could be to consider business funding rather than straight out buying or selling.  There are many different funds available although they usually come with their own specific requirements for use.

Most business funding relies on a set of parameters.  Some funds are limited by geographical area, some only consider certain business sectors.  Some funds are only interested in businesses at a certain stage in their development.  For example, they might specialise in business start-ups.  Or they might be more interested in growing a business from a small to a medium-sized entity.  And others might prefer to fund management-buy-outs or management buy-ins.  And many have conditions about the amount of funds they are prepared to invest in any company.

The Northern Powerhouse and Government funding has led to a wide range of finance available to companies across the North of England and Frazer Hall has worked with several funds including: –
* British Steel Enterprise.
* Enterprise Ventures.
* Business Growth Fund.
* Foresight Private Equity

In our resource section of the website we have a more comprehensive list of funders with their broad requirements and contact details.

However, business funding is not limited to venture capital firms or government backed funding.  It might also be reasonable to think about crowd funding.  A firm that is known to Frazer Hall is ThinCats.  They are a peer to peer business lending firm, set up by Kevin Caley and Peter Brown in 2009.  They offer fixed term secured loans to businesses with each loan based on the merits of the company rather than faceless bank lending.  They provide funding of £25,000 to £2 million and invest in many different business sectors.

Although that said, there is always bank lending which should not be overlooked – often as a first step.  For further information do please contact Frazer Hall.