Company News:

Beanstalk secures business sale for search engine marketing company Netcallidus Limited

Beanstalk secures £3m growth investment for innovative nanotechnology company, Mantis Deposition

"We are exceptionally pleased with the competitive divestiture process Beanstalk Management ran for us. They successfully captured the essence of our proposition, negotiated a compelling deal and drove the entire process with tenacity. It would have been impossible to achieve the same result without them"

Netcallidus - May 2010















Raising finance in times of trouble

16 March 2009

The results of a survey carried out this month by Packaging News reveals that a large number of businesses are having problems with credit insurance in a time when many are worried that they will not get paid on time for the products they have delivered or work they have done. 60 percent of the questioned participants stated that they were using credit insurance and 68 percent of the ones doing so have been notified over the past 6 months that the insurance covering parts of their clients had been withdrawn. This is an issue in many industry sectors and to address the matter the government has taken a series of measures meant to easy the strain on the credit market and help enterprises navigate through current hostile market conditions.

The main scheme in the government’s 'Real help with finance now' is the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) addressed to businesses with a turnover below £25m. Until 31 March 2010 the scheme provides government lending between £1,000 and £1m to those eligible and unable to access the necessary funds in order to keep their activity going. This programme has been highly criticised by some due to its lack of transparency and the fact that banks who are supposed to be involved in it are not properly informed on how it works and willing to start lending. In addition to that in an attempt to efficiently manage risks, credit insurance is being withdrawn, in some cases on the grounds of mere rumours concerning a company’s financial situation.

In response to allegations that government programmes are failing to reach their objectives, a spokesman for the Department for Business stated that since it was voted in “the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme has guaranteed more than 400 loans worth £40 million”.



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