Growth Report - Google's first UK acquisition
Just as the UK is enveloped in a volcanic cloud, grounding all flights, two notable airline deals.
Like Nick Clegg in the inaugural leaders' debate, this has been a week for the underdog entrepreneur, with some fascinating regional businesses emerging as potential champions:
- Oxford PhD students-entrepreneurs Mark Cummins and James Philbin make history by creating Google’s first ever UK acquisition.
- John Robertson, managing director of Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) shows the potential for the UK renewables and wind power sector by completing an £11m deal.
- David Astles is CEO of one of the UK's most exciting university spin-off cleantech companies, Phosphonics.
- John McGuire, CEO of Cheshire-based cloud-computing specialist FreshTL, has closed a landmark deal for the north-west.
- Stephen Grimes, CEO of fast-growing private jet business Ocean Sky, has raised £10m to take the business further into Europe.
- Gehan Talwatte, MD of aviation consultancy Ascend, has secured further funding to expand the business