NOVUS ADDS UP FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL
An entrepreneurial principal and proprietor of an independent school realises her dreams to grow by securing circa £ 550k of bank financing .
As for many entrepreneurs and business owners , the possibility of realising their dreams often requires additional skills and experience together with funding . Having successfully established two nursery schools , an entrepreneurial Principal and Proprietor could see an excellent opportunity to grow her business by opening a prepreparatory and preparatory school for her nursery children to move on to . Unfortunately , as for many start-up businesses , her attempts to raise the necessary funding from high-street lenders was unsuccessful . Her accountants introduced her to Novus who provided an equity investment with another start-up lender providing the necessary loan funding to open the school .
As an invested partner , Novus then supported and worked with the Principal to develop and prove the validity of the school ’ s business model . To ensure the school had good financial controls and management from which to build the business , one of the Novus partners Adrian Wheeler , provided a part-time CFO role for the school . Entrusting the financial management to Adrian certainly reduced some of the business pressures on the Principal , especially when it came to managing cash flow .
Three years after opening , the new school could demonstrate good underlying revenue from which Novus produced a sustainable and profitable business plan . The plan enabled Novus to lead negotiations on behalf of the school and successfully secure £ 550k finance facility through HSBC . Importantly the HSBC financing replaced some more expensive business financing and therefore better prepared the school for the next stage of growth .
“ I have been extremely impressed with the work and dedication of Novus Investments . Their speed , knowledge and experience is very impressive and the dedication to my school has always been carried out with the utmost professionalism and attention to detail .”
Principal / Proprietor
The market for most businesses is continually changing and therefore it is important for businesses to review and refine their objectives and strategies on a regular basis . Due primarily to changes in the economy , pupil numbers at the school came under pressure . As an invested partner , Novus provided through its partner Clive Gunther , the experience expertise to review and refine their sales and marketing strategy .
Starting with an in-depth competitor analysis of
surrounding schools , Novus then refined the market position and value proposition for school . The brand and marketing was then developed to reflect the repositioning and the sales team retrained to the new proposition . Consequently , nursery and preparatory school pupil numbers rose by 47 % and 18 % respectively .
“ My time with Novus has enabled me to acquire a new way of thinking and helped to develop my new skills . By physically taking time out from day to day operations , it has focused our thinking and given us the time to make improvements to both our processes and our customer service . I have no doubt that this will have a knock-on effect to improved sales figures moving forward . Thank you Novus !”
Head of Admissions
0118 347 458 info @ novusinvestments . co . uk
NEW YEAR NEW LOOK - MEET PURPLE LIME WITH A FRESH APPROACH TO ACCOUNTANCY
As 2018 arrives , the team at Purple Lime are ready to help small and medium sized businesses in Wiltshire and the South West face the future with optimism .
It was just over a year ago that co-founders Angela Ashworth and Oli Thomas came together to set up a new business – based at Hartham Park in Corsham – offering ambitious businesses an outsourced , flexible finance department using Xero cloud technology .
They brought with them decades of experience in accountancy , financial management , payroll , VAT returns , bookkeeping , tax compliance and anything to do with the financial health of a business . Oli had been with an accountancy practice in Bath for ten years and Angela had worked for several years as a consultant to small businesses , supporting them to move over to online accounting .
Both had a passion to create a new and fresh approach to the traditionally backward-looking world of numbers and finance – where an ability to move quickly and respond in real time was almost impossible using traditional accountancy methods .
Oli said : “ One of our little lines is ‘ year end is so last year .’ We want to work closely with each client to help them streamline their processes , train them on any technology and then provide the business owners and directors with live data and information , tailored to their needs .”
Angela said : “ Some people want a quarterly review from their accountancy firm and nothing else , others want a detailed monthly management pack with executive summary and attendance at board meetings .
“ Other businesses have a book-keeper and an accountant and the company doesn ’ t have the live data . They may find they want to get extra investment and they just don ’ t have easy access to the necessary information to start the process . We plug that gap with accurate information when it ’ s needed there and then .”
After building the business in the early months - originally under the name Hartham Financial – Oli and Angela worked tirelessly behind the scenes to put in place the procedures and processes to really offer the kind of flexible services their clients want in a digital age . They do this by working with the online accountancy software company Xero – and they have recently become a Silver partner .
Now they have been joined by accounting technician Sarah Henson and the company has been re-branded as Purple Lime .
Oli said : “ It ’ s been an amazing year after we both took the decision to set up in business together . We have taken our time , put Xero at the centre of our brand and chosen a name we believe captures what we offer – a vibrant and fresh approach to accountancy .”
“ I ’ m very proud of what we ’ ve achieved and the relationships we ’ ve already developed with our clients . We aim to take on more staff this year as well as grow our business in an organic and strategic manner ,” Angela said .
Purple Lime ’ s clients include Interactive Scientific of Bristol , Exxus Energy of London , Dan Preece , a local farrier and Corsham Institute .
For more info : www . purplelime . uk . com
16 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017