Friday 13 January 2012

Entrepreneurs issue stinging attack on banks

A selection of Yorkshire's leading entrepreneurs have launched a stinging attack on banks, saying a lack of access to finance is one of the biggest issues facing growing businesses today. At a round table debate hosted by Insider and Park Place Corporate Finance in Leeds, the business leaders said claims the banks were open for business were "simply not true".


The Entrepreneur of the Month round table debate brought together Insider's featured business leaders from the last 12 months alongside expert advisers to tackle the issues facing companies and pinpoint the opportunities.

However, recruit4health managing director Ella Snowball said access to cash was still the biggest obstacle to ambitious entrepreneurs.

She said: "The banks have apparently got £1bn for small businesses, but they just aren't willing to give you any money. They'll say you have a brilliant company, but no one is willing to lend. I don't know of any company that has been successful when they've asked for cash."

Chief Executive of Rixonway Kitchens, Paul Rose, agreed: "The banks are not open for business. They say they will only lend to the right companies, but who are they?"

Partner at Park Place Corporate Finance, Tim Simpson, agreed that most companies were struggling to access finance and blamed the lack of personal responsibility in banking institutions for the current deadlock.

He added: "Entrepreneurial businesses by definition are unique and innovative and the big problem is that, because banks have taken personal judgement out of the equation, they won’t fit the template for lending.

"Just a few years ago banks would sit across the table from a business and look them in the eyes to decide if they could deliver. The personal approach gets issues resolved quickly and this new template approach is an obstacle few can overcome, which is why we’re seeing a rise in the popularity of asset-based lending."

Iceotope chief technology officer Peter Hopton said the appeals process with banks often meant businesses could get access to personal judgment, but argued funding was still available to businesses with signed orders.

He concluded: "I don't go down to the bank until I’ve got the order form, but I also send it to my suppliers. It means you can usually get the necessary cashflow from somewhere, even if it's credit from a supplier."



13 January 2012



Tuesday 10 January 2012

BUDGET 2012 – ICEOTOPE STATES ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY CAN BE MUTUALLY ACHIEVABLE


Today’s budget announcement saw George Osborne highlight the UK’s commitment to renewable energy, and announce that the Government will consider replacing the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC).  However, the Chancellor failed to demonstrate the ‘clear commitment’ to the green economy that many suggested he would.

Peter Hopton, CTO of Iceotope, has made the following comments on today’s budget announcement, and what this will mean for the future of green IT.

“Today’s budget needed to address the interests of both businesses and the green community, by stimulating economic growth, and encouraging a resource efficient economy.  However, instead of this, today’s announcement confirmed the Government’s beliefs that the needs of businesses and the environment are incompatible, highlighting that support for future innovation in the green sector comes secondary to cost benefits.”

“In the Chancellor’s speech, there was little on future incentives for businesses to adopt green policies, or focus on their environmental impacts at all. The Government needs to recognise that green initiatives and innovation can lead to financial savings, and helping to set standards to reduce energy consumption can not only help improve environmental credentials, but can also help significantly cut costs.”

Monday 2 January 2012

Free efficiency: The ‘secret sauce’ to 2012 tech success

What does 2012 hold for the smart-energy sector? Expect organizations in the coming year to keep looking for
ways to save energy through improved efficiency - with the prevailing mantra being not, "Help me become greener," but, "Show me the money."

That spells opportunity for technology and service companies that can deliver the best - and fastest - returns on investment. On the other hand, investments with longer-term or hard-to-quantify payoffs will be increasingly difficult to justify, especially as government stimulus spending (think smart-grid grants and loans) begins to dwindle.

Under those circumstances, the business model with great potential is the one where efficiency solutions can be had for no upfront cost at all on the customer’s part; that is, one where companies can implement new technologies or services that lower their energy bills steadily over time, with all or part of those savings going to the technology or service provider in the form of residual-like payments.

That’s a model already in use by quite a few solar-energy companies that use power purchase agreements to motivate homeowners to install photovoltaics on their rooftops. Under such leasing arrangements - offered by firms like SolarCity, SunRun, CT Solar Lease and Sungevity - customers have gotten solar panels on their roofs for little or no upfront cost, with the installing company earning revenues through homeowners’ ongoing lower utility bills.

Even with solar-energy costs approaching parity with traditional electricity sources, such leases typically last for 20 years to make them worthwhile for PV companies. Other efficiency improvements, though, can pay for themselves more quickly, and that’s where we can expect to see a lot of activity in the coming year. Think 'free cooling' solutions like Iceotope’s for data centers, demand response services such as EnerNOC’s and low-cost behavior-based ways to lower energy costs (GreenRoad’s approach for reducing fuel consumption, for example).

As the Great Recession drags into yet another year, efficiency will continue to be good - but cheap, or - better yet - free, efficiency will be even better.


02 January 2012

 

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