UFO Info Week-End

I try to telephone all my business contacts every six months to stay in touch

I try to telephone all my business contacts every six months to stay in touch. A telephone call to Jennifer revealed that she was leaving her job and setting up on her own. The business had reached a critical point in its development: it needed to raise finance to fund growth.Since the company had real growth potential, the solution was to raise equity finance through the sale of shares (or equity) to investors. In order to do that, the company needed “investor ready” business documents. These documents, the holy trinity of all equity financings, are: a business plan; a cash flow forecast; and a funding presentation.Debbie Jones got professional help with these key documents and then approached potential investors.

Yet that was exactly what prompted John and Debbie Jones to start their own company, Protek-dor Ltd. “Attackers used tubing to feed a toxic gas into my cab whilst I slept,” explains John. “Being gassed once was bad enough, but being gassed a second time, some months later, made me think seriously about what could be done to protect drivers.”And so trucker-turned-inventor John came up with two devices: Kab-gard, that protects the cab door window, and Lok-gard that secures the door handle and lock against attack Truckers loved the products. Ian Swanwick of John Blackstock Transport says: “I stopped for a coffee before crossing the border out of Spain and when I returned to my truck I caught three men trying to break the locks. Together with Debbie Jones, 48, he started Protek-dor Ltd in 2001 (0870 190 00 10; )
People offer many reasons for starting a business But being gassed? That’s a new one. If new nuclear reactors are built, we would like to operate them.”.

John Jones, 48, is a former lorry driver based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Even Mr Wilson admits: “It has to be a long time before anyone would invest with great confidence in British Energy.”Like its ageing reactors, British Energy’s time is running out, yet nuclear may yet rise from the ashes.However, Mike Alexander, the company’s chief executive, is optimistic: “All plant has a limited shelf life – we are no different. Mr Large says: “In the 1950s, the nuclear industry misled the public about the benefits of nuclear power and how it would solve the world’s energy needs. Now the renewables industry is doing the same.”It is unlikely that British Energy will ever be in a position to build new nuclear reactors.

The likely financial conditions set by the European Commission will prevent it from investing in non-nuclear businesses, so it will never become a big energy group like Germany’s RWE or Electricit?e France, which can afford to finance their own nuclear reactors.Shareholders who have lost over 92 per cent of their investment are unlikely to bankroll a new generation of reactors. The more permanent carbon emissions reduction is, the more out of balance it is to get rid of nuclear.” The nuclear industry also argues that new technologies means waste is cut to a minimum.The alternative is renewable energy. The Government wants to generate a fifth of all electricity from sources such as wind power by the year 2020, but some believe that this is not realistic. It is estimated that more than 6,000 turbines would have to be built to meet this figure.Critics believe that the benefits of renewables have been over-hyped anyway. TVO’s shareholders will also purchase the power from the 1600mw plant, guaranteeing its cash flow.However, not everyone agrees that nuclear companies can survive on a standalone basis.Mark Johnston, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, says: “Without state support via grants, guarantees or other subsidies, nuclear is fundamentally incompatible with a market-based approach.”What is British Energy’s future?For the company to survive in the long term, the Government must agree to build more nuclear power stations. I would pursue the nuclear option because I would consider nuclear as the lesser of evils by a long way.”The Government has set tough targets aimed at cutting carbon emissions, which cannot be met without carbon- free nuclear generation.Mr Wilson says: “Public opinion and environmental thinking will lead government rather than the other way around. Last year’s energy White Paper favoured renewable forms of generation, such as wind, over nuclear generation.