• Alternative Investment law firm RW Blears LLP returns to sponsor the prestigious award to celebrate this year’s exemplary SEIS investment manager

• The Best SEIS Investment Manager award will be presented at a black-tie dinner for 450 guests on 8 November at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London

• Online submissions for all 16 award categories of the 2017 Growth Investor Awards are now being accepted until 2 June

London, 15 May, 2017: Intelligent Partnership, the UK’s leading curator of education and insights on alternative investments, is pleased to announce that RW Blears will be joining us for the third consecutive year as an award sponsor at the 2017 Growth Investor Awards on Wednesday 8 November at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

The 2017 Growth Investor Awards will celebrate the UK’s SME investment management community’s role in job and wealth creation successes. The awards recognise companies and individuals who are helping start-up and ‘scale-up’ businesses realise their full potential and power Britain’s economy.
The Best SEIS Investment Manager award recognizes providers specialising in Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) who can demonstrate innovation in product development and impact on SME growth. The judging process takes into account each nominee’s client base size and proportion of SEIS investment in client portfolios. They judges will also score each entry based on increase in investment volume and performance, impact on investee companies, product development, adviser outreach, and risk management.

Adam Lawrence, partner at RW Blears LLP, commented: “Since the SEIS was launched in 2012, 6,515 individual companies have received investment through the scheme and £606m in investment has been raised, according to HMRC. Like the SEIS, the Growth Investor Awards have quickly become established as an important part of the alternative investment landscape. We are delighted to be supporting both again this year – encouraging more alternative investment managers to look seriously at investment in start-ups and providing continued support to the UK’s entrepreneurial community.”

Symvan Capital fought off strong competition from Daedalus Partners and Oxford Technology to win last year’s best SEIS investment manager title. Symvan won thanks to its strong track record, support for investee businesses beyond providing funding, and taking companies from the early-stage growth to established businesses.

Guy Tolhurst, Managing Director of Intelligent Partnership, commented: “The Growth Investor Awards celebrate the best in class in the SME ecosystem, driving success and growth in the UK economy. In today’s challenging environment, SMEs have to work harder to earn their success, grow their markets and build vital customer loyalty. As they seek differentiated sources of investment to achieve their growth ambitions, they also need to be laser-focused on carving out better access to markets, attracting the best available talent, and taking every opportunity to leverage the skills and expertise available in the UK’s impressive SME investment ecosystem.”

This year’s awards are now open to any organisation or individuals involved in putting investment to work in UK SMEs. All entries will be initially assessed to ensure that they meet the category requirements. All organisations and companies that meet the relevant award criteria will be able to submit an entry by completing the online form and submitting an administration fee.

Companies and individuals have until 2 June to submit their award entries. All information about the 2017 Growth Investor Awards, including award categories, criteria and how to enter, can be found at growthinvestorawards.com.

Guy Tolhurst said: “We’re thrilled to be taking entries for our third annual Growth Investor Awards, and we’re delighted that R W Blears will be supporting the awards for a third consecutive year.”

Representing different sections of the fund management, alternative investment and SME community, an Advisory Board of influential leaders will once again offer guidance on shortlisting and judging while encouraging the best from their respective networks to participate in the awards.

Founding Advisory Board member Sherry Coutu — entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of the Scale Up Institute — commented: “Competitive advantage doesn’t go to the nations that focus on creating companies; it goes to the nations that focus on scaling them. The Growth Investor Awards recognise the broader contribution of the SME fund management community to scale up growth and those best optimising investment and support.”

2017 Growth Investor Awards timeline
5 April: Award entries opened
2 June: Deadline for entries and nominations
15 July: Finalists and Growth Champion of The Year shortlist announced
3 August: Growth Champion of The Year finalists announced
8 November: Growth Investor Awards ceremony and black-tie dinner