According to Imperial College London 95% of business owners have no exit or succession plan. Sounds a bit high to me, but I guess if the question was asked about written planning then it may well ring true.

We're interested to better understand how business owners in our region think about these issues - and so we're conducting a survey. It is difficult for even the most successful business owners to grapple with exit planning. The survey is to test the extent that directors and shareholders are ready to achieve the kind of exit that they'd chose, and at a time of their choosing - or if they will simply be forced to respond to events? Of course having a plan should allow them to maximise the value of their investment in the company, and exit in a manner of their choosing - whether this be a management buyout or a company sale.

As an economy we need successful entrepreneurs - and they need an orderly way to realise the wealth that lies tied up withing their businesses. If you'd like to do the survey click here - as an incentive there's a draw for a bottle of champagne or a free valuation report.

I'm on stage in Pirates of Penzance this November (21 - 26th) at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge.   This years production is set at the famous Art Deco Penzance Lido - so you can tell there's also some time travelling involved, as it was not around when the original story was set.   The Pirates are a sort of Bullingdon club on tour, the daughters are land girls, and the major general is, frankly,bonkers.

Coincidentally I'm playing the same role as last time.     In 2004 I did this with a vaguely West Country accent, this year I have been asked to assume a Scottish accent - I hope I can pull this off successfully!

Production team includes Tommy Thomas once again as MD, and new to CaOS director Sinead O'Neill.     She has worked with Glyndebourne, and is a prime  mover in the new Cambridge City Opera, Cambridge’s first fully-professional opera company, of which
she is Founder and Artistic Director.

This years Pirates of Penzance  promises to be a lively and amusing take on the show.   For those of you who didn't appreciate last years modernised, humour "lite" Mikado this years Pirates should be a refreshing return to G&S presented as the musical/comedy it should be.