UKBAA response to Autumn Statement 2016
Jenny Tooth OBE, CEO of UKBAA, said:
“UKBAA believes it is crucial to maintain the UK’s position as a leader around technology and entrepreneurship and we therefore welcome the Chancellor’s focus on infrastructure and innovation as key to support productivity and growth.”
On helping the UK’s fastest-growing firms achieve scale-up
“The UK has some fantastic high-growth businesses, particularly in the technology space, and all too often we have seen these companies snapped up by bigger companies overseas, rather than growing to scale in the UK. UKBAA is therefore heartened by the Chancellor’s injection of an additional £400m into venture capital funds via the British Business Bank, addressing this gap in funding for growth businesses with high scale-up potential and helping to avoid the loss of some of our best companies overseas.”
On support for the regions
“We have outstanding firms in every part of this country, but the concentration of capital is too focused on London and the South East.UKBAA is pleased to see support for the regions via allocations of funding to the Local Growth Fund and Local Enterprise Partnerships. The angel community stands ready to help businesses take advantage of the opportunities presented to them via this support and attract the investment they need to thrive.”
On export finance
“We recognise the critical importance of developing the UK’s businesses’ global trading links in the aftermath of Brexit, so we welcome the doubling of the UK government’s export finance capacity with a view to making it easier for British businesses to export.”
Notes to Editors
1. For further information, please contact Jenny Redman, UKBAA head of communications, 07769 152796, jenny.redman@ukbaa.org.uk
2. About UKBAA:The UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) is the national trade association for angel and early-stage investment, representing over 160 member organisations and around 18,000 investors. Business angels in the UK collectively invest an estimated £1.5 billion per annum and are therefore the UK’s largest source of investment for startups and early-stage businesses seeking to grow. UKBAA’s members include angel networks, syndicates, individual investors, early-stage VCs, equity crowdfunding platforms, accelerators, professional advisers and intermediaries. UKBAA acts as the voice of the angel investment community and strives to build and connect the angel investment ecosystem so as to ensure a coherent landscape for financing high-potential entrepreneurs.
