The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is 25 years old in 2019.
Just think about that for a moment. EIS has survived and flourished under governments run by all three main parties in that time, demonstrating its resilience.
At the same time, the pace of change over the past quarter of a century has been bewilderingly fast, and EIS has been changed and modified to make sure it stays relevant to the society of the time.
And in many cases EIS has been a powerful agent of change. By funnelling investment into small companies across the UK, EIS has helped to shape the way we do business. In those 25 years, £20 billion has been invested into nearly 30,000 companies, helping a wide variety of businesses take off and scale up.
Take, for example, Ten Lifestyle. Chief executive and co-founder Alex Cheatle credits EIS with not only enhancing the business, but ensuring it is here today. The company has gone from an initial 25 employees to 20 offices and more than 700 employees worldwide, including more than 40 corporate partners. It’s a massive success story and Cheatle is convinced that EIS was vital to that progress.
“We probably would not have a business today without EIS,” he told the EIS Association.
That’s why EISA director general Mark Brownridge quotes Ten Lifestyle in the opening statement of our newly launched Adviser’s Guide to the Enterprise Investment Scheme.
And just like the world around it, the EIS has not stayed exactly the same. Since 2018, new rules have meant that there are stricter criteria when it comes to investing, with every pound now needed to be at risk. These new conditions follow in the footsteps of changes made in 2015 around what is and is not eligible under state aid rules.
In the context of an evolving marketplace, our Adviser’s Guide to the Enterprise Investment Scheme brings advisers up to date with the latest regulatory changes and ensures they have the tools to understand this market. It’s important to know the nuts and bolts of EIS when supporting clients’ investment decisions, so this guide sets out the rules, explains the context, provides expert commentary and gives examples through true-to-life case studies, all in a clear and easy to understand format.
Our thanks go to our partners on this guide, Deepbridge Capital, Jenson Funding Partners, Seneca Partners and Vala Capital. Without their support this guide would not have been possible.
And thanks too to the industry experts who have given their thought leadership in this area: Mark Brownridge, director general at the EISA; Roger Blears, senior partner at RW Blears; Liz Brion and David Adams of Grant Thornton; and Tom Wilde from Shoosmiths.
To gain a good understanding of EIS practicalities and to claim up to four hours of CPD download the guide now