Award-winner blasts UK venture capitalists

The founder of a UK company which won a major venture capital award last week has criticised the UK venture capital industry for being risk-averse.

The company was sold to a German industrial group earlier this year.

Ronald Hamilton, who founded AWARD plc in 1993, told Accountancy Age: ‘There is no such thing as venture capital. Venture capitalists are really only interested in zero-risk.’ The West Lothian-based company, the UK’s only manufacturer of disposable contact lenses, won the Cartier-Financial Times-British Venture Capital Association award in the ‘Large start-up’ category, as well as the overall ‘Venturer of the Year’ award.

Having been refused twice by 3i and other venture capital firms, AWARD eventually secured funding from Scottish Enterprise and British Coal Enterprises following introductions by its auditors, the Glasgow office of Ernst & Young.

In February, AWARD was acquired by the German Ray-Ban sunglasses group, Bausch and Lomb, for # 20m. Three of the other six winners in the competition are now also part of other industrial groups, one of them American.

In all, Big Six accountancy firms acted as auditors to four of the seven winners. E&Y’s Southampton office was auditor for Westwind Air Bearings, which picked up a prize in the ‘Large MBO’ category, until the engineering group was sold late last year to the quoted Cobham, the aerospace and defence business formerly known as FR Group.

Arthur Andersen client and Internet software supplier, Unipalm Group, was sold to the US-listed UUNet in November last year for # 158m. It won in the ‘Expansion’ category.

Coopers & Lybrand in Cambridge audits Celsis International, the ‘research-based’ prize winner which is quoted on the London stock market.

Baker Tilley audit client Linton and Hirst, the electrical engineering group which won in the ‘Turnaround’ category, was bought by the UK-quoted TT Group some six months ago.

The firm of McCabe Ford Williams, based in Dover, act as auditors to the only winning company which is still independent and unquoted, the office water cooler company, Braebourne, which won in the ‘small start-up’ category.