Make your company attractive to investors

If you are looking for investment into your business, getting advance approval from HMRC to accept investment under SEIS and EIS is a no brainer. You dramatically increase your chances of getting an investment in your business. Most investors only invest in HMRC compliant companies as they can get a portion of their investment back from HMRC.

Say they are investing £100 in your company, SEIS can reduce the cost of investment by 50% – In other words, investors can buy shares worth £100 by only paying £50 for it. It is an attractive proposition for investors and could help capture their interest when you pitch your idea.

What we can do for you?

We have over 90% success rate in getting approval from HMRC. Our pre-application checks can identify if there are holes in your application and we can advise if there is a way to overcome those problems. The processing time depends on HMRC as they can ask questions, however, we have seen cases where advance approval was granted in 4 weeks. Contact us if you are looking to make your company investment friendly.

I am a start-up, how can I attract and retain talent?

EMI schemes are extremely important especially if you are a startup, you may not be able to offer the market rate salary but you can reward your employees through EMI schemes. Your team work to increase the company value and get rewarded as a result. It is extremely tax efficient share scheme and flexible in terms of how it is implemented.

How much is it?

You can hire us on an hourly rate so, you only pay for the work done. Or alternatively, we can agree a fixed fee with you to carry out pre and post investment work. On average, a simple case costs about £2,500 + VAT but every case is different especially if legal work is required.

A good city lawyer could cost you upwards of £10k but that involves different stages before the investment is applied. Tell us what you want and we will give you an accurate quote.

FAQs

What’s the difference between SEIS and EIS? SEIS is targeted at sourcing investment in early-stage companies, whereas EIS helps more established businesses gain funding. The criteria for qualification are different, with EIS allowing investment for companies with up to 250 employees and up to £15 million in assets.

My company needs more than the £150,000 allowed through SEIS, what can I do? You can use the Enterprise Investment Scheme for anything over the allowed amount, use SEIS to raise the first £150,000 and use EIS to raise the rest. If you do take this option, you must spend 70% of your SEIS raised funds before you can issue shares under EIS. Consult a professional before looking at this option.

If I invest in a company under SEIS, how can I guarantee success?As with any investment, there are risks involved, however these risks are significantly reduced because of the tax benefits offered.

Do I still get relief if I invest in my family member’s business? There are stipulations here. An investor does not qualify for the SEIS if he has more than a 30% stake in the company. For the purposes of SEIS this extends to certain family members too. So if your spouse, parents, children, grandchildren or grandparents have more than a 30% stake, that excludes you from SEIS, however if your sibling, cousin, aunt or uncle have a larger stake, that is fine.