Business News Round Up (23/06/2020)
Edinburgh fund will give a £100m injection into UK’s life sciences sector
A funding deal involving three Scottish universities has been agreed that will inject more than £100 million into the UK’s life sciences sector.
The Epidarex Capital III UK fund, which has raised £102.1m, will invest in new life science businesses from emerging research hubs, including spinouts from a string of universities. Typical initial investments will range from £2m to £5m.
Edinburgh-headquartered Epidarex Capital said its new fund has been cornerstoned by the British Business Bank via a £50m commitment from its Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme for early stage venture capital.
In addition to the British Business Bank, the universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, alongside the Strathclyde Pension Fund and several global investors have committed capital to the fund.
Intu warns shopping centres could close if it enters administration
Shopping centre giant intu has warned that its shopping centres may have to close in the event of it falling into administration – something which could happen as early as this week.
The struggling shopping mall operator, which owns the Trafford Centre and Arndale shopping centres, has confirmed it is in discussions with lenders about a standstill agreement, which, at this stage intu says won’t extend past 15 months. The firm had originally asked for an 18 month agreement.
Intu has also confirmed that it has appointed KPMG to put together a contingency plan for administration.
UnikLasers raises funds for ‘world changing’ project
Laser manufacturer UnikLasers has secured a £750,000 grant to help apply quantum technology to industries such as financial services, defence and medical diagnostics.
The funding is from Innovate UK, the National Research and Innovation Agency.
The Edinburgh company joins a consortium of 13 other industry and academic partners to accelerate the growth of commercialisation and collaboration efforts within the British quantum technology community.
This Innovate UK project, with an overall value of £10m, is called ‘QT Assemble: Integrate Quantum Technology Programme’, and is led by Fraunhofer UK Research, based at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
“Quantum Technology is rife with exhilarating opportunities”, says Professor Fedor Karpushko, founder and chief technical officer at UniKLasers.
https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2020/06/uniklasers-raises-funds-for-world-changing-project/
Chamber research shows unprecedented impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has created “an economic crisis like no other”, according to the latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) conducted by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
The GM Index, which is a combination of seven key QES measures, is at its lowest ever level (-31.7 compared with 31.9 in the first quarter of this year) – a drop of more than 63 points.
Not only is the GM index at its lowest level, this quarter has had the sharpest fall ever.
The QES results show dramatic reductions in domestic and international demand across all sectors.
Business confidence is low, with 93% of respondents concerned about volume or revenue and 51% worried about capital and cash management. Only 10% of employers said they were trying to recruit staff, compared with 54% in the first quarter of this year.
Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara, head of research at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is one of the most important Quarterly Economic Surveys of our lifetimes.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created an economic crisis like no other, which cannot be compared to previous recessions.”
Despite low confidence and demand, the QES does reveal some positive news, with 50% now reporting a decrease in sales, compared with 74% in the first week of lockdown.