London Stock Exchange exclusively teamed up with accountants and business advisers BDO LLP in the East Midlands this week, to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
The anniversary dinner, hosted at Colwick Hall, was attended by up to 50 guests. Local companies – listed and aspiring – heard from Marcus Stuttard, head of AIM on the wider funding and progressive initiatives which have helped the market be such a success.
Since its inception in 1995, AIM has offered fast-growth businesses access to a pool of long term international capital, and is now the world’s most successful growth market. There are currently 24 East Midlands companies admitted to AIM.
After talking of the existing trends within the AIM market, Marcus was followed by chief executive at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Peter Brodnicki, for a Q&A session on the organisation’s recent decision to conduct an IPO on AIM.
Brodnicki described how life as a public company has allowed the Mortgage Advice Bureau to capitalise on more opportunities and, given the choice again, they wouldn’t do anything differently.
BDO is the most active reporting accountant for AIM IPOs and has held this position for four consecutive years. It also audits more AIM companies than any other firm. In 2014 alone BDO completed 23 out of the 86 AIM IPOs, raising £456m with a total market capitalisation of £2.46bn.
Gareth Singleton, partner and head of BDO LLP in the East Midlands said: “We were honoured to host the anniversary event with London Stock Exchange. AIM has come a long way since it was founded 20 years ago. In that time, it has been instrumental in the creation of some of our region’s greatest success stories.”
Gareth added: “There is a substantial amount of capital available for the right firms. As the economy continues to grow and confidence remains high, an admission on AIM is a hugely credible option for fast growth businesses. I’m sure that Marcus and Peter will have opened the eyes of many ambitious business leaders in the region.”
