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Understanding funding options: Alternative funding

There are various types of alternative funding, such as Lancashire County Council’s Rosebud Fund; business angels (individual investors); and the government-backed North West Fund. Another source is peer-to-peer lending, operated by organisations such as Funding Circle which matches businesses and individuals who want to invest with businesses looking to borrow. How does it work and [...]

The Eurozone crisis – how does it affect us?

Recently events in the Eurozone have dominated the political agenda. The Eurozone crisis is now not just a problem on the periphery of the Eurozone, but is now threatening to engulf Italy, the world’s 8th largest economy, an eventuality that would almost certainly bring about the collapse of the Euro.

Thankfully as I write this blog the strong measures taken by the Eurozone leaders appear to be restoring some confidence in the markets. The measures include the effective sidelining of the leaders of Greece and Italy to be replaced by technocrats entrusted with the task of pushing through some fairly painful medicine. Assuming the political will is there to drive through these reforms the chances of a crisis being averted look favourable.

The currrent economy: Mixed messages and a faltering recovery

Looking at the macro economic data over the past couple of months the best way to describe it is mixed. On the one hand the general mood around the UK economy seems to have become more negative over recent weeks, annual GDP growth on 0.7% is well down on the coalition’s 2.6% forecast 12 months [...]