It’s a difficult time for SME’s at the moment as they face an uncertain future with COVID-19. We wanted to remind everyone about R&D Tax Credits and how they can benefit your business, especially in the current economic climate where cashflow is tight.

A company in any sector can potentially claim R&D tax credits, the key point is whether there are qualifying R&D activities being undertaken.

If your company carries out research and development then you may be eligible for R&D tax credits.

R&D tax credits are a government incentive designed to reward UK companies for investing in innovation. If you’re making a claim for the first time, you can typically claim R&D tax relief for your last two completed accounting periods.

There are three main types of tax benefit that arise from a successful claim for R&D Tax Relief, these are:

  • A payable cash credit
  • A rebate of corporation tax
  • An enhanced deduction that can be carried forward

To find out if you qualify and to learn more about R&D tax credits CLICK HERE to view the HMRC guidelines.

If you think you qualify and would like to make a claim just GET IN TOUCH.

There is no doubt the current situation around the world is having a huge impact on businesses and the way that business will be delivered in the weeks or months to come. We will be introducing an online solution for our pitching sessions which we will be rolling out with immediate effect. It is our priority to keep our customers, members and staff safe. We are confident that apart from moving to an online solution it will be business as usual and we will be working hard to get as many businesses funded during this time, as we do during any time.

If you have any questions whatsoever please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Additionally, if you are looking for funding, we are open as usual!

The North East Times have just released an article about the launch of our new Newcastle Angel Group. We can’t wait to get this group up and running. There are so many fantastic businesses in the region, and we’re really looking forward to supporting them on their funding journeys.

Read the article HERE

Good news Friday…another Yorkshire business funded!
A huge well done to Corksol in securing their investment. Corksol is a truly unique and innovative product, that has massive potential and the team to realise it. We are delighted to have been a small part of their journey and wish them every success.

Corksol is the exclusive distributor of a multi-function coating solution for the building and construction trade, uniquely providing thermal, acoustic, fire-resistance and breathability solutions in one application.

Corksol offer a spray-applied coating solution that is equally suitable for application to internal and external walls and roofs and in a multitude of application settings. For example, with external coastal locations where salt reduces traditional coating performance, through to use at major events to enable noise-reduction!

As the name suggests, the product is made from natural cork and generates a set of unique benefits from just one application and comes with a 15-year manufacturer guarantee. Corksol offer the only spray-applied product on the market that provides a combined solution to the issues of energy-saving (thermal retention), fire-retardancy, noise-reduction (acoustic properties) and condensation removal (via breathability properties).

Founder, Joff Ward said “not only did angelgroups find us the money that we needed, but they also found us the right individual to help us deliver on our growth ambitions. The help and support through the whole process has been invaluable and we can’t thank them enough”.

Corksol

Have you ever considered looking for investment for your business and wondered what it’s all about? How it works? What the investors are looking for or how to value your business? Yes… well this event is for you!

We are running TWO free virtual workshops on breaking down the investment landscape in April.

We hope you can join us at one of the two online workshops, which will cover the following topics:

  • Is investment right for you
  • Angel or crowd funding
  • Valuation – what is your strategy
  • What an angel is looking for
  • What does your perfect angel look like
  • Pitching for investment

REGISTER HERE to secure your spot for the 2nd of April

REGISTER HERE to secure your spot for the 30th of April

We had a great time sponsoring the Lincoln Business Club this morning, thank you for having us!

It was a fantastic event and we got to meet some awesome businesses. What a great way to spend a Friday morning.

Lincoln pic

Aagrah screen shot

 

Shipley Enterprises Ltd supplies and distributes the highest quality, authentic Kashmiri and Indian food products for the retail and food service markets under the Aagrah Foods brand. The recipes are based on those used at the Aagrah Restaurant Group and have been perfected over 40 years. 

Shipley Enterprises Ltd, T/A Aagrah Foods is operating under an IP license agreement to supply restaurant quality food products into the retail and food service markets as well as online. The current range of six Tarka (TM) cooking bases have regional listings with Asda, Co-Op and around 15 independent farm shops and have a growing following online which includes regular orders from Europe and even Australia. The directors (Shezad Aslam, Shakil Hussain) have created a detailed 3-year business plan which sees turnover increasing to a healthy £5.3m in three years.

Founder, Shezad Aslam said “We were delighted with the support from angelgroups, in helping us raise the £330k we needed to meet our aspirations and would definitely recommend them to businesses looking to go down the equity fundraising route”.

“This is exactly what we are looking for, a great team with a great product with such huge potential” angelgroups Martin Avison.   

 

Martin and Shezad

 

 

   

It may have been a gloomy day over in Hull yesterday, but what a view from the pitching room!

Well done to the four businesses who pitched, there was some fantastic feedback from the Angels including “very investable, great idea!”.

One down, one to go, as we get ready for tomorrow’s pitching session in Sheffield where we have four new businesses pitching for investment and support – roll on the next event.

Hull Barclays

Have you ever considered looking for investment for your business and wondered what it’s all about, how it works, what the investors are looking for or how to value your business?

Yes?

Well we have a free event coming up that’s aimed at you! If you’re interested in attending, just pop us an email at: [email protected] and we will send you over some more information.

The event link will be live soon, in the meantime – we hope you have a great weekend.

The number of women Angels is on the up, and we are thrilled to say we have welcomed several new women investors to our groups in 2020! We have also seen a rise in female entrepreneurs seeking investment.

Female entrepreneurs have made significant strides in what has been a predominantly male environment. We recently had 2 female founders come to us looking for funding, and received some of the best feedback any business has had at our sessions. We hope to finalise on their investment in the next few weeks.

We are looking forward to seeing the continued growth in both the female entrepreneur and women Angel sectors in the years to come!

Click HERE to read the latest UKBAA report on Funding statistics for UK female entrepreneurs.

EXCITING NEWS… we are opening up a new Angel Group in Newcastle! 

We are thrilled to announce the opening of angelgroups-Newcastle, which will see it’s first event at the end of March. We can’t wait to get this group up and running and meet with local businesses and Angels alike. 

We will keep you posted on the launch of what we hope to be a fantastic Angel group in a region that has some really exciting growth.

 

“Excellent idea – huge potential”. It was our Sheffield pitching session yesterday and with comments like this from the Investors, we know it was a great one!

We ask our Investors to score the businesses in various areas and provide written feedback for them. We then give this feedback to the businesses – the good, the bad and the indifferent. If it’s a no from the Investor, then it’s important to know why.

We had 4 fantastic businesses pitch yesterday. We’re excited to follow their investment journeys and help them secure the funding needed to excel their growth plans. Roll on the next events!

Shef Jan 2020