I am indebted to my good friends at The National B2B Centre in Warwick who tell me that Advantage West Midlands has unveiled its plans to encourage region wide involvement in business opportunities and collaborative projects in Europe http://www.wmictcluster.org/europe/ . AWM is also aiming to help SMEs in the region to benefit from European funding and will provide clear guidance on support services available. The core sections of the European section of the ICT Cluster website are updated frequently and consist of European Programme calls, tender opportunities, events and news. Additional features scheduled for the next few weeks will include regional support services; national contact points for the various programmes; and a “jargon buster” to assist those new to working in the arena of European project opportunities. It's aimed at any organisation involved in providing technology services and products, including regional businesses involved in ICT, education, science parks, researchers and Chambers of Commerce.
Source: National B2B Centre http://www.nb2b.co.uk http://www.mgba.co.uk http://www.ukba.co.uk
www.ukba.co.uk
Showing posts with label business finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business finance. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Monday, 29 June 2009
AWM Close Proof of Concept Fund
We have just been speaking to The University of Wolverhampton who administer the Black Country node for the AWM Proof of Concept Grant Fund. They tell me that all projects under the fund must be completed by March 2010 and therefore the fund is closing for new applications very shortly.
So if you run an SME in The West Midlands and yo9u have a great and innovative business product idea now is the time to email us for more information. The scheme offers a 75% grant with a maximum value of £30,000 so it is worth applying for. It's certainly worth the email.You can find details of our grant application service on our website. So drop us an email. This is the last opportunity. Don't waste it!
http://www.ukba.co.uk/; http://www.mgba.co.uk/
So if you run an SME in The West Midlands and yo9u have a great and innovative business product idea now is the time to email us for more information. The scheme offers a 75% grant with a maximum value of £30,000 so it is worth applying for. It's certainly worth the email.You can find details of our grant application service on our website. So drop us an email. This is the last opportunity. Don't waste it!
http://www.ukba.co.uk/; http://www.mgba.co.uk/
Monday, 22 June 2009
Are The Green Shoots Sprouting?
According to Money Marketing magazine net retail sales of open-ended funds have had a strong showing in 2009 so far. This follows a trend of investors switching away from equities in light of the credit crunch, inflows into bond funds exceeded £1bn for the fifth consecutive month and April experienced the highest Isa sales in three years. Equity funds also saw modest retail inflows over the last two months.
The initial findings of an Investment Management Association poll of retail investors, conducted by YouGov in early May, show investor confidence has turned positive, with a 35-point swing.
The IMA GB investor confidence index reached 106 in May 2009 (on a scale of 0-200, 100 being neutral) whereas six months ago overall confidence was negative at 71. The IMA GB investor intentions index in May 2009 was 99 (on a scale of 0-200, 100 being neutral). This is up 10 points since November 2008 and shows investors on the whole are becoming less negative about putting money into new investments.
More than 50 per cent said they think now is a good time to put money into investment products, with equities being the most popular option. However, whether or not they will act on this remains to be seen. And investors are still cautious about the residential property market, with half thinking it will continue to fall for at least 12 months before showing signs of recovery.
In terms of economic recovery, 47 per cent thought the economic slowdown would last 12-24 months, compared with November when 58 per cent thought it would take 12-24 months to recover. On markets specifically, 53 per cent of investors think it will take more than two years for the FTSE 100 to return to 6,000.
Polls like this should always be viewed with caution as offering just a snapshot of investor views at one point in time. Taking a longer-term view, research published by IMA last month shows UK investors still give a strong weighting to equities over the long term, despite the trend towards increased diversification of holdings over the past few years. What is also telling is that UK investors have a resilient approach to equity funds. They largely held their nerve last year, making much smaller net withdrawals from equity funds compared with investors in other European countries.
Again, only time will tell what will happen but current investor attitudes, coupled with their long-term behaviour, suggests equity investing may pick up in the long-term.
www.mgba.co.uk, www.ukba.co.uk
The initial findings of an Investment Management Association poll of retail investors, conducted by YouGov in early May, show investor confidence has turned positive, with a 35-point swing.
The IMA GB investor confidence index reached 106 in May 2009 (on a scale of 0-200, 100 being neutral) whereas six months ago overall confidence was negative at 71. The IMA GB investor intentions index in May 2009 was 99 (on a scale of 0-200, 100 being neutral). This is up 10 points since November 2008 and shows investors on the whole are becoming less negative about putting money into new investments.
More than 50 per cent said they think now is a good time to put money into investment products, with equities being the most popular option. However, whether or not they will act on this remains to be seen. And investors are still cautious about the residential property market, with half thinking it will continue to fall for at least 12 months before showing signs of recovery.
In terms of economic recovery, 47 per cent thought the economic slowdown would last 12-24 months, compared with November when 58 per cent thought it would take 12-24 months to recover. On markets specifically, 53 per cent of investors think it will take more than two years for the FTSE 100 to return to 6,000.
Polls like this should always be viewed with caution as offering just a snapshot of investor views at one point in time. Taking a longer-term view, research published by IMA last month shows UK investors still give a strong weighting to equities over the long term, despite the trend towards increased diversification of holdings over the past few years. What is also telling is that UK investors have a resilient approach to equity funds. They largely held their nerve last year, making much smaller net withdrawals from equity funds compared with investors in other European countries.
Again, only time will tell what will happen but current investor attitudes, coupled with their long-term behaviour, suggests equity investing may pick up in the long-term.
www.mgba.co.uk, www.ukba.co.uk
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