UK food and drink industry experts Wriggle are proud to announce their new venture, the Wriggle hamper collection. Wriggle’s unique gift box selection combines show-stopping craft products with on-trend design to create a hamper offering for a whole new generation of gift givers.

Alongside their expertly-curated selection of food and drink hampers designed for birthdays, anniversaries, housewarmings and Christmas, Wriggle has launched a bespoke corporate gifting service, inspired by a growing awareness to improve wellbeing in the workplace. Companies can browse through a number of gift box options to send to employees and clients, each made with different budgets, dietary requirements and occasions in mind, and can be customised with personalised messages and inserts when required.

 
“Over the last 18 months, we’ve found gifting an invaluable way to thank our employees and reward them for their hard work during difficult and turbulent times. Corporate gifts have proven to be a vital way of easing stress, promoting positivity , and strengthening teams, especially when the majority of workforces are working remotely.”

Wriggle have designed their corporate gifting service to make it as hands-on as possible for inquiring companies. With an easy to browse selection of hampers and a rapid nationwide delivery service, there couldn’t be an easier way to reward employees. They’ve also ensured that their packaging, from their gift boxes to their bespoke labels, is made from 100% recyclable materials, so you can rest assured that these gifts are as good for the planet as they are for your team. 

If the ease of ordering and conscious packaging doesn’t seal the deal, then the handpicked specialty products included in each of the hampers surely will. With a focus on choosing food and drink from craft producers that make high-quality products that you’ll be pushed to find elsewhere, their offering is unique, eye-catching and on-trend. From natural wines to award-winning UK made chocolates and biscuits, their one of a kind offering is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.

“We love hampers, but we think there are a lot of stuffy, traditional options on the market. By bringing together incredible food and drink gifts from up-and-coming producers, we’re striving to create a whole new gifting experience. Our experience working alongside chefs and producers since 2014 has put us in the perfect position to discover showstopping products from UK producers.”

Wriggle’s everyday gifting hampers and bespoke corporate options are now live on their website. For more information and to view the full range: https://getawriggleon.com/pages/for-businesses

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IF YOU’RE EVER IN THE RAT BUSINESS…‘Come in!’’ — the Mayor cried, looking biggerAnd in did come the strangest figure!His queer long coat from heel to headWas half of yellow and half of redAnd he himself was tall and thin,With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin

These days, the one thing that large and small businesses have in common is their desire to be successful.  If “success” is not your core strategy, big or small, you’re in the wrong business (no matter the size!)

Where large companies differ somewhat to the start-up or the SME in “scale-up” is the luxuries they have; and yes, a huge budget is one of those luxuries!  They inevitably have an enterprising board too, willing to bring onboard strategically focused outsiders [Non-Executive Directors] into its heart.   These “outside” directors often provide advice based on special knowledge and more often than not, an enviable list of contacts who bring ever-expanding opportunities for development.

On the other hand, the smaller and medium sized companies tend to be more circumspect in their approach to inviting these same exceptionally talented and well-connected non-executives. There is no single reason for this but rather a plethora of potential reasons which usually involve cost, of course, but also a reluctance to make a shift from being a relatively small and tight knit group of founders or board members.

Now this is all good and well but as we know, the issue with wearing something tightly knit, though, is that it has a tendency to constrict the breathing.  The same is true in business and is especially true in the SME landscape.

By expanding the stitching, you may let in some air! Now doesn’t that feel better? This is what a non-executive director does, especially for SMEs, where sometimes the board may consist of family members and who knows, even the odd friend or two! Bringing in new members to the board will breathe a breath of fresh air into the business.

Developing a new perspective, gaining a deeper knowledge of the marketplace and crafting a more innovative way of thinking, can really open your business up to new opportunities for development and growth; these are key ingredients for greater success in anyone’s book!

SMEs can’t Ironically, and using a monetary analogy, SME’s are precisely the kind of businesses that cannot afford to miss out on what a non-executive brings to the table. And as long as he or she is welcomed and valued for their advice and contributions, your SME will grow from strength to strength. But heed this caution, though! It’s advisable to give some thought to the qualities you’re looking for in your non-executive director, before you make your approach.

Remember the lesson learned by the Town Council of Hamelin, who brought in a non-executive to help them with their infestation problem. Once he had helped their enterprise to flourish – by utilising his musical expertise in pest control – they refused to appreciate the full contribution he’d made to their town’s development and withheld his payment. The consequences were disastrous! Refusing to pay him was actually the second mistake they made.

The first?

Well, even back in the fourteenth century, the members of the Town Council should have done their candidate due diligence a little better. They were approached by the Pied Piper, not the other way round.  As a result, they knew nothing about him. Now, if there had existed back then a website that could bring to their attention a large number of prospective candidates, where their background, expertise and personal qualities were on open display, well then…But sadly, the internet was almost 700 years away. And as a consequence, such a website did not exist in the year 1376.

Perhaps if it had done, they would have called it Non-Executive Pied Pipers.com!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ian Wright is the Founder and CEO of Virtualnonexecs.com, a global platform and the UK’s largest Boardroom advisory community with 11,000+ non-executive director members.

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Boguslavsky & Co, a Digital Strategy Agency aimed at growing tech startups, is pivoting its focus on the UK market from ​this month onwards​. Founded by Marianna Boguslavsky & previously operating in UAE & South Africa, the focus is on scaling tech startups by solving the issue of access to international markets.

Marianna​, who is now based in the UK, has​ assembled a small team that is agile, intelligent, and resilient enough to accommodate growing arrays of emerging tools and approaches that can enable tech startups to grow & scale. Their background of marketing (both domestic and international) and technological innovation skills is how the agency aims to help the startup community in the UK.

‘’Large proportion of tech companies fail to achieve their full potential because they do not have the marketing skills to engage with and sell to their target market. Plus knowledge/experience of how to launch in international markets. Customer acquisition and access to markets is key for startup success” – Marianna Boguslavsky, founder of Boguslavsky & Co, commented.

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The funds are enhanced equity strategies designed to help investors outperform market indices
Samuel Freshfields, a next generation investment company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments, promoting the highest standards of integrity, responsibility, and competence to produce a highly personalized counseling process, is pleased to announce the launch of six equity funds which are designed to outperform market benchmarks through a fundamental index-based approach that incorporates active insights.

The six funds, which expand upon the more than decade-long collaboration between Samuel Freshfields and Research Affiliates, will cover Asian Large, Asian Small, International, Global, Global ex-Asian and Emerging Markets.

The strategies select stocks based on non-price measures of company size such as sales, cash flow, book value and dividends. By removing stock price from the portfolio construction process, the funds seek to capitalize on market inefficiencies, systematically capturing returns when prices deviate from fundamentals and therefore outperforming market cap-weighted indices over time. In addition, portfolio weights will be refined through the use of research-based active insights designed to further enhance risk-adjusted returns.

The Fundamental funds are part of Samuel Freshfields’ Enhanced Equity suite, which also includes award-winning Fundamental PLUS funds.  

“In a low return world, investors are looking for approaches that provide meaningful return on top of what the market delivers, which can make a big difference over the long term,” said Janet Sze Ho, Samuel Freshfields’ Managing Director and Equity Product Manager. 

The six new funds are as follows:

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental Asian Fund

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental Asian Small Fund

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental International Fund

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental Global Fund

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental Global Ex-Asian Fund

•           Samuel Freshfields Fundamental Emerging Markets Fund 

About Samuel Freshfields

Samuel Freshfields is a next generation investment company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments and markets as well as professional advice to maximize returns. Samuel Freshfields’ investment advisory and brokerage services are multidisciplinary, allowing the company to devise custom strategies and deliver exceptional results for our clients. The company’s major goal has been to work hand-in-hand with clients to meet their investment needs. While many financial firms push one-size-fits-all products, Samuel Freshfields strives to coordinate the fundamental disciplines of the company’s dividend-growth philosophy with the unique needs of our clients regarding the growth, use and preservation of their wealth.

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23 SEPTEMBER 2021– UK SMALL AND MICRO BUSINESS OWNERS have this week been dealt yet another devastating blow as the energy crisis takes hold, warns UKBF (formerly UK Business Forums).

Whilst media reporting on the UK’s energy crisis and its impact on consumers continues to gather pace, there is a notable gap in reporting on the impact it will have on small businesses.

UKBF founder, Richard Osborne, says: “Businesses are still suffering from the effects of COVID-19, with many more casualties still to come as the Government tapers away the support packages further. We have supply chain issues, both local and internationally, and now energy costs are skyrocketing and suppliers are going out of business. We have to ask how much more can businesses take?” 

Many small business owners, the backbone of the UK economy[1], are at tipping point. The energy crisis compounds the series of blows they have been dealt through pandemic devastation, the end of furlough, plans to increase National Insurance, and hiking costs due to issues with supply chains.

Growing concern amongst small and micro business owners is clear from discussions within UKBF, the UK’s online community of 270,000 small and micro business owners: “I did a comparison last week, checking my current tariff that I’ve had with EDF for about 10 years with the market. The best offer I had was an annual increase of around £150.”  Mike Jefferies, UKBF Community Member 

Richard Osborne, UKBF founder, continues: “The Government provides a number of protection options and caps for consumers which are important, but what protection is being given to small businesses still trying to dig themselves out of the past 18 months of struggle?”

UK small businesses have already suffered an estimated cost of over £69 billion due to COVID-19 and, during 2020, small business owners are reported to have suffered an average loss of £11,779[2]. 

[1] Cabinet Office; https://www.gov.uk/government/news/small-businesses-are-the-backbone-of-our-economy
[2] Simply Business; https://thecircularboard.com/small-business-statistics/

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Finstar Financial Group is an international company specializing in investments with total assets of about USD 2 billion. Oleg Boyko is the founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board. It is largely focused on the financial services and digital technology sectors.

Founding and development of the international group of companies

Finstar Financial Group is a private international investment company founded in 1996 by Oleg Boyko and his partners.

In 1999, the businessman started to develop his business in the metallurgical industry. Together with Alexander Abramov, the director of EAM Group, he set up EvrazHolding. The businessmen bought debts of non-profitable metallurgical companies and then merged their assets and optimized their enterprises. Later, Boyko sold his part of shares. Now the capitalization of EvrazHolding is roughly estimated to be at least USD 6.5 billion.

Later, the Finstar chairman added a new asset to his portfolio — he became the main shareholder of the regional chain of perfume and cosmetic stores, Rive Gauche. The brand quickly became one of the leaders in the cosmetics market. Five years later, the businessman sold more than half of the company’s shares, keeping 24% for himself.

In 2003, Finstar acquired a controlling stake in Baltic Trust Bank. Due to wise management decisions, the bank optimized its strategy and managed to increase its profitability. Later, Boyko sold a controlling stake to GE Capital, the banking and finance arm of General Electric.

The billionaire then focused on the fintech sector: “Fintech opens access to a lot of data, the ability to process it. This is the foundation of the modern financial business.” Oleg Boyko invested large sums in the development of the Spotcap online lending service, the Viventor P2P lending platform for individuals, the Rocket10 and Billfront marketing services and other promising enterprises in the online sphere. In April 2017, Finstar announced the creation of a fund to invest about USD 150 million in such projects.

Part of the funds went to Finstar’s own research and development — focusing on core business processes allowed the company to expand opportunities to enter new markets as well as create new financial technologies and products.

Finstar — development outlook

“Finstar has developed a large set of assets and this reflects its strategy of developing lending in different countries, — says Target Global Venture Fund partner Mikhail Lobanov. — When you’re working in 30 markets, the performance may be different everywhere, but the company shows very good results in most countries”.

Boyko has been focusing on promising projects in digital financial services for the last ten years. The main audience for the work of his portfolio companies is people excluded from the traditional banking sector (underbanked) and consumers who do not receive quality banking services (underserved).

About 2.5 billion people have difficulty banking or are excluded from the sector altogether. Most of them live in developing countries. However, even in mature markets, there are financial consumers, particularly millennials, who are not suited to the outdated banking practices. Boyko aims to create a system that allows financial services to reach underserved segments: “I have always believed that finance is a very scalable business. Even factories can’t be built at that speed.”

The entrepreneur believes that in these times of technology, when speed of service delivery, convenience and security become priority factors, it is wise to invest in developing the areas of payment systems, information processing, credit risk and Internet marketing. This provides an opportunity to redefine financial services in a way that best serves society. In essence, Finstar is creating a new generation of financial intermediaries using artificial intelligence and new technology platforms. Having a solid foundation of startups in the portfolio that solve the same problem from different angles supports the company’s strategy.

Portfolio Company Results

Finstar International Group provides more than just financial support to its partners. Portfolio companies have the opportunity to get professional advice regarding their further development.

A prime example of the effectiveness of such a strategy was Spotcap, a global provider of online loans for small and medium-sized businesses. In 2016, Finstar invested EUR 15 million in the portfolio company together with Holtzbrinck Ventures. In five years, Spotcap has issued loans totaling more than EUR 250 million, expanded its operations in the UK and New Zealand, in addition to its existing assets in Spain, the Netherlands and Australia. It ranked 29th among the world’s leading innovative fintech enterprises (Fintech 100 Leading Global Innovators — 2017).

Another example is Vexcash, Germany’s first express provider of short-term online personal loans. Invested in 2016 and 2018, it has optimized operations and now offers loans through partnerships with German banks. Between 2015 and 2019, the company issued more than EUR 135 million.

The investment company’s founder himself, Oleg Boyko, believes that changes in consumer behavior, the development of cloud technology, and the growing power and availability of mobile devices are challenging incumbent financial institutions: “We are building an ecosystem, mostly of financial products, but we are not focusing only on them. It is a well-known global trend; we’re just coming at it in our own way.” One of the company’s goals is to establish a trusting relationship with customers. That includes connecting directly with them through innovative mobile apps.

When the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the international Finstar Group is asked for advice for aspiring investors, he says that you should only invest in what you know. Without an expert understanding of a niche, you cannot succeed “If you want to do business but you don’t have basic knowledge, that is a big disadvantage compared to your competitors. And you have to fight for a competitive advantage.”

Oleg Boyko’s charitable activities

Oleg Boyko founded the Parasport Foundation to support Paralympic sports. “I got into Paralympic movement for several reasons. One of them is that I have been into sports since childhood. It’s close and understandable for me.”

During the pandemic, the foundation participated in the #timetohelp campaign and provided the Russian national summer and winter Paralympic sports teams with medical masks and gloves. More than 2,000 athletes received targeted assistance.

Since 2015, the businessman has been a member of the IWAS Development Committee. Its goals are to expand international sporting opportunities for para-athletes. A year ago, Boyko participated in the Forbes 400 Summit, dedicated to philanthropy, ideas for inspiration and action to solve society’s most overwhelming problems and justice.