Mid-market companies: small-cap business feels the squeeze

Citation

Willman, J. (2008), "Mid-market companies: small-cap business feels the squeeze", Strategic Direction, Vol. 24 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2008.05624iad.004

Mid-market companies: small-cap business feels the squeeze

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 24, Issue 9

Willman J.Financial Times, 7 March 2008, Start page: 1, No. of pages: 4

Purpose – highlights how UK small and medium-sized companies are feeling the brunt of the liquidity crisis. Design/methodology/approach – explains why small-cap shares are particularly vulnerable to economic turbulence. Reports on this year’s PLC awards, which focuses on those companies that are too small to qualify for the FTSE 100 and 250 indices but are not quoted on the Aim market for smaller growing companies. Provides brief case studies of a selection of the winners including, among others, Sepura (technology company), New Britain Palm Oil and Holidaybreak. Identifies the winners in a number of categories and looks at the reasons for their success. Presents an overview of the economic performance of mid-market companies; draws attention to how, in general, the smaller the company the worse the performance; draws attention to the north-south divide in small company performance and records the views of financial analysts on how small companies may perform in the future outlining how mid-market companies continue to outperform blue chip companies. Originality/value – analyses how mid-market companies are performing. ISSN: 0307-1766 Reference: 37AH368

Keywords: Business performance, Corporate strategy, Financial performance, Small to medium-sized enterprises