2fnoNyY
2fnoNyY
2fnoNyY
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
FOREWORD<br />
Well, what a year it has been! We’ve<br />
voted to leave the EU and have seen a<br />
paradigm shift in our political makeup.<br />
Within EIS Association (EISA), we<br />
have also seen plenty of change<br />
and writing this foreword gives me<br />
a chance to thank my predecessor<br />
Sarah Wadham for her hard and<br />
inspirational work as Director General<br />
over the past three years.<br />
Three months into my tenure as Director<br />
General I have used the time to talk to<br />
as many people involved in the industry<br />
as possible to canvass views and get<br />
feedback on all things EIS, and I find<br />
the industry in a positive frame of mind<br />
despite the uncertainties that swirl<br />
around us. We are clearly entering a<br />
time when Britain will be in a state of flux<br />
following the referendum decision back<br />
in June but I’m a passionate believer<br />
that it will be small companies that drive<br />
Britain forward and deliver us the growth<br />
and prosperity that we will surely need.<br />
However, those small companies can only<br />
deliver that growth if they have access<br />
to the equity funding they desperately<br />
need to start, build and grow and that’s<br />
where EIS has a significant contribution<br />
to make. At a recent meeting with<br />
Chief Secretary to the Treasury David<br />
Gauke, it was refreshing to hear how<br />
supportive he was of EIS and SEIS and<br />
this should give everyone involved in EIS<br />
great hope for its future wellbeing. My<br />
challenge to the industry is to highlight<br />
those companies who have benefitted<br />
and succeeded from EIS funding and<br />
champion them to as wide an audience<br />
as possible, but particularly to MPs and<br />
to government. With this support, we<br />
can continue to convince government<br />
of the positive return they receive from<br />
their investment in EIS socially, politically<br />
and economically.<br />
The 2016/17 EIS Yearbook is once again<br />
a highly valuable EIS resource and I’m<br />
delighted to have been asked to write<br />
the foreword. At EISA, we continue to<br />
see overwhelming interest in EIS from<br />
all sides; small companies looking to<br />
raise equity finance that they otherwise<br />
struggle to access, an increasing number<br />
of diverse providers keen to enter the<br />
market, investors looking for exciting<br />
investment opportunities within a taxadvantaged<br />
environment and financial<br />
planners who wish to present their<br />
clients with an investment that combines<br />
tax planning with positive returns.<br />
As I sign off, I’d like to reach out to<br />
financial planners and let them know<br />
that EISA will be focusing strongly on<br />
engaging with them over the coming<br />
months to help them discover new<br />
opportunities for how they can embed<br />
EIS into their recommendations. Watch<br />
this space.<br />
Mark Brownridge<br />
Director General, EIS Association<br />
4 EIS Yearbook 2016/17