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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

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