Profit from enthusiasm

Dr Lee Fenney, managing director of servo drive maker Infranor, one of whose supported innovations is highlighted on page 28, says: "There is so much opportunity in the engineering industry. We have a lot of talented and creative engineers in the UK but it is important to create the environment for creative, free-thinking individuals who are prepared to fail but who will not give up. We have spent two years training the ones we have at Infranor and now we are pointing them at problems. We support Teaching Company Schemes and we also need support for creative and risky ventures where we cannot always predict sales and turnovers. These are the opportunities for the future." Eureka put this point of view to a venture capital consultant with one of the UK's 'big four' banks. His reply? "Small venture capital funds need Government backing. The work is about the same for small ventures as for big ventures so, inevitably, we go for the big ventures." Having considerable experience of helping small businesses get going, he believes managers and potential managers of small businesses need training as much as they need money. They need to be taught accountancy, negotiating skills, how to use and understand the language of business, how to sell and, above all, how to ensure they get paid. And he sees a clear role for Government in making short evening courses available for such people at nominal or no cost, and in making it easier to apply to regional venture capital funds. He also argues that banks should second personnel into working businesses and vice versa so that they better understand each other's point o f view.