Garden products entrepreneur sells stake to Barclays Private Equity
Gardman Holdings, founded and run by Paris Natar, has completed a big deal. He's been on the Real Business radar for some time.
Dragons’ Den: The deal that got away
Two years ago, Danny Bamping, MD of Bedlam Puzzles, appeared on Dragons’ Den. But it wasn’t investment that he was after. It was 15 minutes of fame.
Small business leaders are at the coalface
Running a small business can be very rewarding. Unfortunately it can also be very frustrating.
Give your carbon footprint the boot
Chess founder David Pollock has devoured 21 of his rivals in the past three years. But this ambitious entrepreneur isn’t afraid of coming into work on a pogo stick.
2008 business predictions
So, today’s blog was going to be about my forecast for 2008 because, you know, it’s that time of the year. Despite being, well, wrong about the interest rate decision, I still thought I’d have a crack at predicting the ‘big issues’ likely to plague you lot next year.
FDs hope things will get better
The good news is that UK FDs are hopeful even in the face of adversity, if a recent poll by BDO Stoy Hayward is anything to go by.
Draft guidance published on auditor liability limitation
The key principle behind agreements between companies and their auditors to limit the auditor’s liability must be that the agreements are “fair and reasonable”.
Are you out of control? Try automating the process
Canon UK FD Terry Smith believes using technology to automate processes is crucial for a business, particularly when it comes to the monitoring and testing of internal controls.
Startup takes a bite out of iTunes
When Ben Drury launched his music download business back in 2004, Apple's iTunes ruled the roost. But the American mega-corp didn’t count on a London-based start-up out-performing its clunking media player.
Is a university education relevant to an entrepreneur?
Thinking about the people I respect in the business world, they are a fair mix of people: some have been to university; some have not; and others still who went but didn’t finish, and therefore qualify for a weird group of their own.
Government delivers Companies Act timetable
A month after announcing that much of the new Companies Act would not come into force until 2009, the government has given us a final implementation timetable for the act's provisions.
Do FDs make good CEOs?
The other day I met with Anthony Holmes, a turnaround expert, at RealFD.net headquarters on the King’s Road.