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Dan and Stephen discuss funding for a medical device business, a new university building and Insider's first UK Dealmakers Awards.

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00:00Funding for a medical device business, a new university building and Insider's first UK

00:05Dealmakers Awards, featuring today's business briefing.

00:13Well, good morning Dan. What have you seen in the news this morning?

00:16So, I've got a funding story. A medical device business based in Chepstow has secured multi-million

00:21pound funding from VGF and Development Bank of Wales. IQ Endoscopes was founded in 2015

00:28and the funding will enable them to accelerate the rollout of their sustainable single-use endoscopy

00:33platform. That platform is devised to increase the capacity of endoscopy provision across the UK,

00:39which allows patients to be diagnosed earlier and ultimately live longer and healthier lives.

00:44IQ Endoscopes product is set to launch into an initial four health centres this July to begin to

00:51tackle the backlog of patients needing endoscopy treatment across England and Wales.

00:57So, that's obviously great news for the company and for the wider medical industry as well.

01:03What's caught your eye today?

01:04So, up in Yorkshire, we've got plans for a new building at Leeds Beckett University that look like they're

01:09going to take a step forward. The university submitted plans last year for a new building north of the

01:14Rose Bowl, a building at its city centre campus. The site is currently in use as a car park.

01:19The development would include two blocks, the tower standing at eight storeys and it would provide a

01:24new home for the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. That department currently

01:29occupies four buildings across the city centre and Beckett Park campus. The university said that the

01:35move to a single facility would hopefully improve the efficiency of the teaching as well as improving

01:40the student experience.

01:41The plans will go before Leeds City Council's City Plans Panel on the 13th of February.

01:46A report prepared for that meeting has recommended that the council grant approval.

01:50It's been very, very praiseworthy of the development. It said it's going to support the expansion of the

01:55university, it's going to create jobs during construction and it's going to make a major contribution to the

02:00local economy. So, potentially a really significant development there.

02:03I'd be interested to see if those plans go ahead. Anyway, I've got another funding story actually.

02:08An alternative beer brand whose founder actually appeared on Dragon's Den, they raised more than

02:13one and a half million pounds from their crowdfunding campaign. Mark Wong launched Impossibrew

02:19after being told to quit alcohol for health reasons, which is a lot of people's worst nightmare.

02:24But, you know, Wong used it as inspiration to start a business venture. He partnered with Dr. Paul Giseau,

02:30who is a biosciences professor at Durham University and other brewers to develop this drink.

02:36It uses a blend of active plants to boost serotonin levels and increase relaxation,

02:42but without the drowsiness associated with typical alcoholic drinks.

02:47Wong appeared on Dragon's Den in February 2022 and he actually walked away empty handed,

02:53but his company grew to generate revenues of more than 2.3 million pounds in 2024.

02:59They were obviously able to prosper and secure funding now, nonetheless.

03:04A lot of the time it's good for these companies to appear on Dragon's Den, whether they get the funding or not.

03:08It's usually good for their reputation.

03:09It's useful exposure time.

03:10It comes across well.

03:12In this case.

03:13Yeah.

03:14Well, sticking with deals news, last night was Insider's first UK Dealmakers Awards.

03:19Now that event brought together the various winning dealmakers from all the regional dealmakers awards

03:24that we hold across the UK to crown a champion of champions.

03:29Now, I'm sure most, you know, our dealmakers events are key events on the corporate finance calendar.

03:34They've been going for more than three decades at this point.

03:37But this is the first time we brought all the winners together to crown national winners.

03:42So the event celebrated the top corporate financiers, accountants, private equity houses, lawyers and funders

03:48who were responsible for some of the most significant deals in the UK over the last 12 months.

03:53It was held yesterday at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

03:57And we've been reliably informed a great night was had by all.

04:01One of two major events for Insider last night.

04:04We also had the Yorkshire Young Professionals Awards taking place in Leeds.

04:08The winners from both of those events are now online.

04:12There will also be an image gallery for each of those later this morning.

04:16So if you were there, you'd better have a look.

04:18See if you're in any of those pictures.

04:20You can find out more about those events and the stories we've spoken about.

04:24If you visit insidermedia.com, there are plenty more news stories.

04:27You can also sign up for our newsletters and find out about some of the other events we've got coming up.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 7th February 2025

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