M & A Rainmaker

I have recently had some pretty bad experiences with so called Hotdesking facilities in Birmingham, UK and this got me thinking about the subject.

I think part of the problem is that they are more experimental models than professional businesses and the people that are running them are just not up to the task. Simple questions,enquiries,suggestions and even help given get very weird responses and you just wonder where these people have been, are coming from and why they are suddenly hosting Hotdesking facilities. Desperation springs to mind ??

In all the years that I have been meeting people in Birmingham in hotels I have never experienced any negative issues. In fact the reverse. As I cast my mind back over hundreds of meeting I can only remember positive experiences.

Over the last year I have used The Malmaison and Marco Pierre Whites in particular. Both are great but of course MPW has the advantage of the amazing views. I have always had good service at the Ibis Chinatown and there is another hotel where I had amazing support from staff with my laptop connectivity – will update soon.

It really begs a few questions:

– Why would you use a Hotdesking facility rather than e.g. a Hotel or Coffee Bar ??

– What are the most important criteria for a venue to meet with somebody ??

– What is the best place to open up your smartphone, notepad or laptop and get a bit of work done ???

There are probably a few other questions that could be asked aswell.

I am going to leave this article for further updates soon.

A documentary about the Digital Experts Academy franchise opportunity is due to be released in January 2013

This documentary about the Digital Experts Academy franchise opportunity will explain more about Stuart Ross and Jay Kubassek’s vision for the D.E.A. and the way in which 1000 new Digital Marketers will be traind by 2015

As readers of my blog’s will know the Digital Experts Academy franchise opportunity is being taken up by forward thinking entrepreneurs around the world.

Let’s say up front that it’s low cost, low risk, high potential model is very attractive to a lot of people.

Also highly attractive is the fact that, as I have explained previously in some detail , it is really at least 3 opportunities in one package:

1. The opportunity to resell Digital Experts Academy Products ( Aswell as Six Figure Mentors and PRO U products ).

2. The opportunity to use ” the system ” in multiple businesses of your own.

3. The opportunity to become an ” integrator ” of the system into other businesses sales and marketing system’s.

No doubt the soon to be released documentary on the Digital Experts Academy opportunity will highlight Stuart and Jay’s view on what the opportunity is.

For certain the investment in the tools, support, mentorship and community is in marked contrast with other ” Internet Marketing ” Affiliate scheme’s which seem very ” short term ” by comparison.

We can expect a minimum ” life ” of around 5-10 years from the D.E.A. products and services but the opportunity outlined in 2. and 3, goes even beyond this.

We are building Centripetal Networks to support the main D.E.A. / S.F.M. / PRO U opportunity and Centripetal Consulting in particular to be a Global Digital Marketing Integrator that will use ” the system ” to support other businesses’s ( sales and marketing ) systems.

This opportunity has been described on this blog as being similar to being a Global Cisco Systems Integrator .  Similar but not exactly the same.

As one of the top 100 Hi Tech. investors in the world I recommend that you get yourself on the list of people who will see the Digital Experts Academy Documentary first ( sign up >>>>>> HERE <<<<<<<< ) and evaluate the opportunity for yourself.

I will tell you this…

There are many Internet Marketers and Social Media Marketers who are kidding themselves that there is a living in what they are doing. There are only a very small percentage of ( independent ) consultants that are making any money ( and they probably have at least one retained client ).

There is little to no money in this business BUT there is money in it IF it is allied to the Digital Experts Academy opportunity.

For those that understand what I mean there is also a realistic EXIT STRATEGY for D.E.A. Franchisees. If you don’t know or understand what I mean by this – ASK ME !!!!

Exit Strategy is one of my specialisations and at Centripetal Network we have worked out how YOU can build yourself an exitable business.

This means that while you are making money you can also be building yourself an asset to be sold in the future.

I came across Stuart Ross of the Six Figure Mentors about a week ago when I randomly clicked on one of his Facebook adverts. ( I hardly ever click on Facebook ads but it looked interesting ). It didn’t take me long to find a video interview that Thomas Power ( co-founder of Ecademy.com ) did with Stuart.

As I ” Know, Like and Trust ” Thomas ( & Penny ) Power I quickly signed up for the initial offer here ..

Step #1

Scroll down and you’ll see our secure online payments form to get started…

The application fee is only $19.95 and don’t worry you wont risk a single penny as it’s 100% refundable within 30 days if you decide this is not for you (or if we determine you’re simply not the right person for us) then just let us know and your $19.95 will be refunded immediately.

I am very glad I did !!!

People who follow me will know that I am a massive fan of HubSpot and that I have been promoting what I call the Internet Marketing Ecosystem here for some time. Actually, I am about to launch a WordPress website which describes the Internet Marketing Ecosystem in more detail.

I have been working my way through Stuart Ross’s video course ( which I gained access to when I paid my $20 ) and also Stuart has been emailing me every day ( well, his automated system’s have 😉 with new video’s and information.

I have also had a telephone call ( skype ) with Martyn Hickey, who is one of Stuart’s team. I booked this through the Six Figure Mentor website for last Monday. Frankly it was too early to talk because I was working diligently through the information that I had already got and was getting every day. I simply said the truth – that this was the best $20 I had spent in years !!! I really mean this.

I am going to explain why it was so valuable and useful shortly but before I do let us digress…..

When I first saw HubSpot a couple of years ago it was a revelation to me. I think they have been going for about 3 or 4 years now and HubSpot is the 2nd fastest SaaS company in the U.S. – next to Salesforce.com. HubSpot’s mantra ” Get FOUND, CONVERT and ANALYSE ” is, as I like to say now ” burned into my brain “.

I have a burning desire to ensure that my clients, friends and the companies I am invested in get the right advice when it comes to Internet Marketing . This has led to me developing the Internet Marketing Ecosystem concept as a relatively simple way of explaining to people what needs to happen. It happens to have components in it that I am highly committed to e.g. WordPress, Twylah and the various social networks that I use like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google + and Pinterest ( to name a few ).

The main reason we developed the Internet Marketing Ecosystem concept was that HubSpot had proved to be a ” bridge too far ” for many of my clients in terms of cost and skills and resources required. As I have said elsewhere in this blogsite HubSpot themselves appear to have realised that they are not quite suited to the small and medium sized business and certainly not to the ” solopreneur “.

Stuart Ross has designed the Six Figure Mentors around individuals:

but the principals certainly apply to any size of business – it’s just that Stuart has chosen to start with individuals whilst HubSpot is now more appropriate to Medium and Large sized businesses.

HubSpot and the Six Figure Mentors have very similar ( if not identical ) objectives though – to get leads, prospects and customers ( orders and cash ).

For me this was really exciting – just as a concept.

However, when you start looking at the information that you can access with a $20 payment and which comes by email from Stuart every day from the time that you sign up, you can tell that everything you need is going to be here.

For me little things and big things confirmed and reaffirmed what I was thinking. There are too many to relate really but for example: He concentrates on the strategy and outsources the detail; he thinks in terms of what motivates people to buy and how to encourage them to do so; he passionately believes in Internet Marketing; he believes in trial and error but learning quickly; some people might not believe in Facebook but he DOES !! ; He has WordPress at the core of his marketing systems.

Mostly, what is important is this. His system is proven to produce millions of Pounds, Dollars or whatever in actual sales. I am going to say right away that the Internet Marketing System has not ( yet ) produced the same thing.

Hence, I highly recommend that you go to

http://thesfm.com/

and invest $20 – yes just $20 !! – because I think you will agree with me that it is the best $20 you have spent for ages if not EVER !!!

If you want to find out more about Stuart you can go to his personal website here.

http://stuart-ross.com/

Stuart Ross.

I will keep you updated as to my findings with the Six Figure Mentors on a regular basis.

Peter MacLean, some time Chairman of Fox IT Holdings Limited, until recently parent company of Fox IT Limited and previously 365iT plc – has now dragged Licensed Insolvency Practitioners, MBI Coakley Limited, into the great 365iT plc scam ( although they seem unaware of the chequered history of MacLean and 365iT plc ). MacLean’s long time mates at Moore Blatch solicitors in Southampton sent out a letter to shareholders on the 3 July 2012 saying that there would be a General Meeting of the shareholders on the 2nd August 2012 at which a proposal to wind up the company voluntarily would be put to the members i.e. shareholders .
( This means that MacLean would basically put his proposals to himself, Pieter Hooft  of LMS Capital and Derek King of South East Venture Growth Fund – as they were the majority shareholders before and after the sale of 365iT’s companies to themselves ).

So, a company ( Fox IT Holdings Limited ) which sometime earlier had sold nearly all of  it’s assets ( companies like e.g. 5i Limited )  to another company ( LMS Capital – where Pieter Hooft is M.D. UK Investments – he is listed as a Director of  365iT plc ) and the holding company of which MacLean was also a Chairman ( 365 it services Limited ) and a shareholder,  was now being put into Members Voluntary Liquidation despite the fact MacLean himself had been paid £millions out of it only recently, it had no creditors ( because they had all been paid off  when LMS Capital bought the companies ) and the Directors of Fox IT Limited had just done an M.B.O. of Fox I.T. Limited from Fox I.T. Holdings Limited( See Press Release below ).

In fact it turns out that ( according to Fox IT Limited ) the date of the Members Voluntary Liquidation was delayed firstly to allow the M.B.O. of Fox I.T. Limited to take place and secondly ( according to MBI Coakley ) to enable the preferential shareholders to do some fine tuning to the arrangements so that they could get nearly all of the money available in the company’s accounts leaving virtually nothing for the Ordinary shareholders.

The preferential shareholders are not listed but we can take an educated guess that they include LMS Capital, Peter MacLean and South East Growth Venture Fund. Yes folks, Peter MacLean gets even more money !!

Let’s summarise shall we ???? Most of the company’s that were in 365iT plc ( was Impera plc ) and became Fox IT Holdings Limited are now in 365 IT Services Limited which is a company owned by LMS Ventures ( Where Pieter Hooft is on the Board ) AND Peter MacLean ( who is Chairman of 365IT Services Limited ). It is run by Peter Howells, former M.D. of 5i Limited.

So basically, MacLean and LMS Capital sold these companies to themselves. ( Not sure if Derek King and South East Growth Fund is involved in LMS Capital or 365 IT Services Limited )

MBI Coakley have been presented with a nice neat set of accounts which show that everyone has been looked after except the Ordinary shareholders in Impera plc ( as was ) / 365iT plc /Fox I.T. Holdings Limited. There is virtually nothing left for them.

The terms of the arrangement to sell 365iT plc’s companies to themselves remain a mystery.

The people that got paid out when LMS Capital bought these companies remain a secret.

The terms of the sale of Fox IT Limited to it’s Directors are also a mystery.

I have been inundated with Ordinary shareholders calling me. Some of whom have been working with or for Peter MacLean since the early days. None of them have a good word to say about him.

The investigations continue.

Fox IT Limited MBO Press Release

Fox IT: Management Buy-Out

Fox IT Limited, the leading independent UK based IT Service Management specialists, has

been the subject of a full and exclusive management buyout with effect from 24th August,

2012. The current management team of Andrew Gray (Finance Director), Mike Darkens

(Consulting Director) and Ashley Bassett (Sales Director) have purchased in full the shares

from the parent company, Fox IT Holdings Limited (formerly 365iT Plc.) and will form the

new board and operational directorship of the business. The acquisition retains all current

operational and delivery UK based staff as well as its global partner network covering 25

countries and 125 accredited Service Management consultants.

Since 1981, Fox IT, formerly Ultracomp, has assisted over 500 organisations and 200000

individuals on their journey to transform IT Services in order to deliver greater business

value through accredited training reinforced with assessment and implementation tools and

services. This management buyout facilitates a strengthening of Fox IT’s core business

focus and portfolio in supporting organisations through all phases of their continual service

improvement journey.

Ashley Bassett commented “I believe this is great news for our Clients, employees and the

ITSM Industry. We’re genuinely excited and confident that the buyout provides the

opportunity for Fox IT to continue being the partner of choice for Service Improvement and

transformation programs. Since its involvement in the inception of ITIL® and ISO/IEC

20000, Fox IT has continually been at the forefront in establishing, the advancement and the

practical application of Service Management best practice through thought leadership,

content provision and service delivery. Whilst continuing to support organisations with their

core training needs a key focus and challenge for the new Board of Directors is to provide

our Clients with practical education, guidance and tools to accelerate the translation of their

significant training investment into tangible business benefits.

The Fox IT brand has already seen a shift from being purely a world leading ITSM training

company to one of supporting our Clients’ service improvement programs providing

consulting and resourcing services, process development tools, bespoke training offerings

and strategic mentoring and guidance for maintaining service quality. Therefore, Fox IT is

well positioned to meet this change in demand. Part of our new mission is to raise the

profile of ITSM to meet and deliver business objectives”

Mike Darkens added “The success of the business is based on the core attributes of our

people, their experience and energy. This has led to the positive results we have delivered

consistently to our clients and through adding to our strong relationships, we can continue

the current trend of business growth.”

ITIL ® is a registered trademark of the Cabinet Office

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1084615740&type=RESOURCES – Members Voluntary Liquidation Details.

The simple story is that Costa Rica Headquartered BeachCherry Corporation wrote a WordPress website for Australia based pianist and producer Van-Anh Nguyen. This might have been news some time ago when it was unusual for a company thousands of miles away to produce your website but these days it is accepted that it does not matter where you are based relative to your client – what matters is the service and support that you provide. It happens that BeachCherry also has offices in India and Europe but not, currently, Australia.

Van-Anh needed this website quickly and it had to meet an important deadline. That deadline being the launch of her ” crowdfunding project ” on Australian and U.K. Crowdfunding site Pozible.com. http://www.pozible.com/index.php/archive/index/7624/description/0/0

Crowdfunding ( raising finance online from people who donate or invest )  has become a disruptive force in the world and one that has emerged from the global recession to take the place of banks and to some extent Angel and Venture Capital investment. It is certainly disruptive for the music industry. No longer do artists have to chase managers and record labels ( who previously would have provided the capital to produce and market a new cd ) now they just need to raise money on one of the many crowdfunding platforms that exist around the world. ( Crowdfunding mainly emerged in the U.S.A. but has quickly spread to the U.K. and Australia ).

Here’s Van-Anh’s Budget :

BUDGET

How did she promote this project ???

Of course she used social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter aswell as her WordPress based website and the Pozible.com site.

No doubt friends and family were amongst the people that helped Van-Anh to get to her goal of A$4000  but there were also many people who did not know of Van-Anh directly. What do they get for their ” donations ” ??? Well everything ranging from posters to cd’s and concert tickets but for A$ 1000 you could have got:

* a 45 minute concert of myself as well as 2 string players and a DJ (just provide me with a great piano and I’ll have the DJ and string players sourced from within the city you are in).

but nobody took her up on this offer !!!!!! ( FOOLS 😉

Many of the people were happy to be known and others donated anonymously.

Best wishes to Van-Anh !!

Note:

BeachCherry Corporation is offering WordPress web and/or blogsites starting from $250 with a variety of themes available. Included within the pricing is guidance on how to get your website found on Google and other search engines for your products and services. Telephone: +1
(202 ) 436-9487 2)and ask for Vick or email  info@beachcherry.com to discuss your particular requirements.

http://www.beachcherry.com/contact.html

The Silicon Crossroads Technopolis is a private High Tech. facility that supports Silicon Crossroads VCT investee companies globally. It also supports companies advised by M & A Rainmaker and the Silicon Crossroads VCT.

The Technopolis is currently supporting companies in ( for example ) London, San Francisco, Israel, New York, Costa Rica and India. the list is continually changing and evolving so this is just a sample of cities and countries supported.

The Silicon Crossroads VCT does not invest in all the companies it supports, it may simply provide advice and guidance. It is particularly interested in assisting startup and growth companies who want to expand from the U.K. to, for example, the U.S.A. and vice versa and also from other countries around the world into the U.K. and Europe. It is one of very few companies in the U.K. to provide these sort of services.

Lichfield Cathedral at night across Stowe Pool.

Managing Partner, Chris Windley, has established global networks via social media networks like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook and Chris is regarded as one of the most influential people in the world by Internet Influence measurement companies like Klout, Kred and Peer Index. These companies operate mainly from e.g. London, New York and San Francisco. Since his days at Optical Fibre Network company Fibernet, Chris noted that U.S. companies tended to lead the European market by between 6 and 18 months and therefore it is vital to maintain contacts with High Tech. industry leaders there; especially the West Coast ( Silicon Valley etc. ) which remains the frontrunner when it comes to angel and venture capital support.

It is no surprise that some of the most important High Tech. companies in the world have emerged from the Silicon Valley/San Francisco area.

Chris maintains contact with Angels, Venture Capitalists and Founders via Internet networks like Linkedin, Google + and AngelList.

Peter MacLean used to refer to himself as Chairman of 365iT plc which was the holding company of Fox IT and recently became Fox IT Holdings as part of MacLean’s big plan.  Shareholders in MacLean’s companies are always kept in the dark, unless they are a big shareholder like LMS Capital.

How did Fox IT get to be put into administration at this stage in the game ??? The short answer is that probably MacLean wanted to put it into administration.

MacLean’s name was not on the letter sent out to shareholders of Fox IT Holdings. This is probably because he wants to avoid being seen as the person who first of all sold 365iT Plc’s crown jewels to LMS Capital ( when LMS Capital was not supposed to be buying anything but was going to be split up ) and then shut down Fox IT Holdings and it’s only company Fox IT.

The whole scheme is deliberately very complicated. What readers should most of all take from this is to ensure that they don’t get into any business dealings with MacLean. Don’t invest in any company in which he is involved; sell your company to any company that he is involved in or buy any company that he is involved in. You will not be able to believe anything that is said to you.

At the moment he is hovering around as Chairman of 365 it services ( which is basically owned by LMS Capital and MacLean and run by Peter Howells, former M.D. of 5i Limited ) and is still actually the Chairman of Fox IT Holdings, the owner of Fox IT, although as previously mentioned his name did not appear on the letter to shareholders telling them that Fox It was being put into administration. ( Creditors and partners of Fox IT should note that Fox IT is the only asset owned by Fox IT Holdings ).

So, the story is basically this: After a period when information provided to 365iT plc shareholders reduced to virtually nil they were suddenly told that most of the companies in the 365iT plc group were being sold to LMS Capital. Interestingly it turned out that MacLean was the only one to get paid back out of the money that LMS Capital paid for the 365iT plc companies and that then he put money into the new 365it services group owned by him and LMS Capital. Clearly he and someone at LMS Capital had arranged this deal.

Shareholders were then told that they would be informed about the ” future ” of 365iT plc and it’s only company Fox IT. Now lets bear in mind that 365iT plc was free and clear of all debts so all that was required was for Fox IT to trade profitably for the group to be profitable. But NO !! after a short period MacLean announces that there will be a change of name from 365iT plc to Fox Holdings Limited. ( The sale of the companies to LMS Capital did not, apparently, require the approval of all shareholders but the change of name did ??? ). This seems to be so that the LMS Capital owned company could trade as 365 it services or similar. Then in the last month shareholders were informed that the decision was that Fox IT would be put into adminstration. So a company completely free of debt and profitable suddenly needs to be put into administration. Well, there’s a surprise.

The fact that MacLean’s name is not on any of the paperwork is probably to do with the fact that he does actually realise that there is such a things as a Director’s fiduciary duty. He could well be called to account to explain how and why he sold off the most valuable companies to LMS Capital, netting a pay out to himself and then shut down a profitable company.

Shareholders in Fox IT are in discussion about the details of MacLeans big plan. Watch this space.

If you have been to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery recently you will have noticed that the Anglo-Saxon Golden Hoard found near Silicon Crossroads ( the junction of the old Watling Street and Rykneld Street – now the A5 and A38 ) Lichfield is missing.

The good news is that it is away doing a great job of promoting Staffordshire ( the old Mercia ) the Lichfield area and Silicon Crossroads to America.

As this article says the Saxon Hoard has gone to the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-15496704 .

Washington D.C. is not one of the recognised ” Startup ” centres of the U.S. although Baltimore ( Maryland ) recently raised $84 Million via an innovative online auction of tax credits ( see  http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-15/news/bs-bz-invest-maryland-funding-20120315_1_tax-credits-investmaryland-program-christian-s-johansson ) in yet another example of U.S. startup funding initiatives.

There have also been a number of other ” Startups ” in the area e.g.

Cerecor Biotech http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2012/04/04/cerecor-biotech-startup-headed-by.html

SemaConnect  http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2011/11/28/annapolis-startup-semaconnect-raises.html

WooFound http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/technology/2011/11/baltimore_startup_woofound_rai.html

MoodleRooms http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/technology/2011/06/startup_story_baltimores_moodl_1.html

Nearby Pennsylvania also has a long standing history of investing in Startups:

http://www.prlog.org/11837942-ben-franklin-program-invests-650000-in-central-pa-startups.html

The SiliconCrossroads VCT founders  actually invested in Pennsylvania Startup eschoolmall ( now esm solutions ) some years ago  http://www.esmsolutions.com/SchoolDistrictsSolutions.aspx

New York ( not far away ) is also a recognised startup centre.

Washington is a place that we British can easily get confused about ( although most of us recognise Washington D.C. we may not know exactly where it is – just West of New York ) and there are 2 or 3 Washingtons in the U.S.

Similarly many Americans probably don’t know where Birmingham or Staffordshire is ( a couple of hundred miles North of London would probably work – which would be a short car ride for many Americans ) so it is great news that the Saxon Hoard is increasing awareness of Staffordshire and the Silicon Crossroads area ( Lichfield, Tamworth, Walsall and Sutton Coldfield ).

Silicon Crossroads is the High Tech. business area established between Lichfield, Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall in Staffordshire, England, U.K. The crossroads referred to is the ancient crossroads of Watling Street ( the A5 ) and Rykneld Street ( the A38 ) which cross one another just below Lichfield.

Notably Tamworth is dominated by Tamworth Castle and Lichfield by Lichfield Cathedral and these are ancient seats of power in Middle England.

The recent discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard may well add to the evidence for the Lichfield and Tamworth area being an area of influence and innovation and Silicon Crossroads and the Silicon Crossroads VCT continue this tradition.

The Silicon Crossroads VCT is a High Tech. Investment fund with a particular focus on areas like Social Media, Inbound Marketing and Cloud Computing.

We have established strong connections with entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capital funds in some of the main innovation areas in the U.S. and Canada like Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Vancouver, Austin, Toronto and other emerging High Tech Innovation areas like Baltimore.

Aside from Early Stage funding the VCT provides support for start up and early stage companies from the U.S. and the U.K. Included in our support services is ” Outsourced Business Development ” to assist companies to identify target customers and sectors  and to establish contact with them using state of the art Marketing techniques like Inbound Marketing, the creation of Internet Marketing Ecosystems and therefore the use of Social Media and Social Business Media.

It became obvious a few years ago that the rise of companies like Salesforce ( SaaS CRM ) , Google ( Search and Social Media ), Facebook ( Social Media ) and Twitter ( Social Media )  would give rise to other companies like HubSpot ( Inbound Marketing ) , Hootsuite ( Monitoring multiple social media channels )  and Twylah ( Twitter brand pages ).

It was less obvious that there would be such huge angel and venture capital investment in the U.S. but there has been and it is only increasing.

There has also been a revolution ( from necessity ) in funding methods for start ups in the U.S. with companies like KickStarter and the concentration of Angels and so called Super Angels onto lists like AngelList.

In addition companies like SecondMarket have created liquidity in markets like pre-IPO shares and debt.

You can get more information on some of these companies via this blog and my Twylah page   http://www.twylah.com/cwindley.

This is a holding page for more information on Silicon Crossroads and the Silicon Crossroads VCT and websites, blogs and Twylah pages will be developed for these over time.

My contact information is on this blog on the Contact page.