This month’s Real Business: Green energy, “game changers” and G2i

Ernst & Young has just named him London & South Overall Entrepreneur of the Year 2009. The Sunday Times Rich List “cautiously” value him at £85m (but they think he’s worth £100m). He’s been awarded an OBE for services to the environment and ranked in the Environment Agency’s list of the world’s Top 100 Eco-Heroes alongside the likes of Prince Charles, Al Gore and St Francis of Assisi.  

In an exclusive interview in the July/August edition of Real Business, eco entrepreneur Vince tells us why planning permission for onshore wind turbines should be taken out of the hands of local councillors, why he downright refuses to work with turkey farmer Bernard Matthews and why he continues to knock back offers from venture capitalists.

Investors are hungry to invest in “game changers” like Dale Vince. And, as Ariadne Capital’s Julie Meyer tells us: “Cleantech is hot right now. We see more and more applications with a green angle to them”. Read about the other sectors that are still attracting cash on pages 43-44 of this month’s issue of Real Business.

If you want to make your business irresistible to investors, check out the Gateway to Investment programme (G2i), funded by the London Development Authority. That’s right, we finally found a government-backed initiative that actually does help entrepreneurs. Over the past four years, the scheme has seen 44 companies raise a combined £32.2m-worth of capital. One third of all companies that have come through G2i got their hands on some cash: not bad considering the national average stands at one per cent.

This issue is also packed with recession-busting advice from the likes of EasyGroup’s Stelios, Betfair’s Ed Wray and David Page of Clapham House Group, lessons on online marketing from drinks giant Bacardi and tried-and-tested ways to win a pitch. Plus there’s all your favourite Real Business columnists: John Timpson, Margaret Heffernan, Peter Knight and Ross Clark.

Check out the full issue of the magazine here – and yes, you can read the whole thing from your laptop!

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