Whiterock Finance CEO Paul Millar explains why innovative homegrown businesses have the creativity and drive to unleash Northern Ireland’s true potential.
As his year-long stint as Chair of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society draws to a close, Paul Millar is reflecting on his key priority in the role to “embrace entrepreneurs and unleash Northern Ireland’s potential.”
“Entrepreneurship is close to my heart,” Millar says. “I’ve come across a lot of entrepreneurs during my career in professional services, banking and now at Whiterock Finance. I have been inspired by them and I can see the challenges they face as well.”
Millar believes it is important for Chartered Accountants, in particular, to have an entrepreneurial mindset.
“Sometimes as accountants, we don’t recognise that so many of our members are entrepreneurs in their own right,” he says.
“They are leading businesses and running their own practices, which are businesses as well, but they tend to see an entrepreneur as ‘someone else’ who is leading a tech start-up or something. If you are 30 years of age and working in one of the Big Four or in the finance function of a business, you need to have an entrepreneurial mindset because, one day, you could be leading that organisation yourself.”
As Millar sees it, all Chartered Accountants should be thinking entrepreneurially both for their own career and for their clients.
“They need to be able to go on a risk journey with their clients. They need to be able to go on the entrepreneurial journey either personally or with their clients,” he says.
Path to accountancy
The Whiterock Finance Chief Executive took the traditional route into his own career in accountancy.
“I did an accounting diploma at Queen’s University Belfast and spent eight years with KPMG after that. I was Audit Director there when I moved on to Deloitte, working in audit and transaction services, and then spent seven years in corporate and business banking with Bank of Ireland.”
Millar made the move to fund manager Whiterock Finance in 2012. “It was a start-up providing riskier finance to businesses in Northern Ireland and, since then, the management team has been successful in buying the business out from its original corporate owners,” he says.
“Today, we provide loan finance of up to £2 million and, through our new Growth Capital Fund, equity finance of up to £5 million to businesses in Northern Ireland.”
His role as Chief Executive of Whiterock Finance is, Millar says, “hugely positive.”
“We have £225 million in funds under management and have deployed £125 million to over 150 companies. I get to meet lots of business owners who are pitching to us, but the impact is not just that amount of money.
“Generally, we do deals alongside other funders. That cocktail of funding helps make things happen. It is great to see companies develop and grow and some of them move onto exits either through trade sales, funding events or IPOs on the Alternative Investment Market. Having a positive impact on the success of other businesses is the most enjoyable part of the job.”
Whiterock Finance has just launched the £75 million Growth Capital Fund, which will focus on investments of between £1 million and £5 million in return for minority shareholdings in scaling companies.
“We have a debt fund of £30 million and that will be topped up to £60 million in the near future. This fund provides loans of up to £2 million to businesses,” Millar says.
“We saw a need for an equity fund and have been working on that for the past two years. The British Business Bank provided £45 million in funding and the rest of it came from us going around Northern Ireland to get funding from high net-worth individuals and others.
“We got 18 others to make up the £30 million. We put in the hard yards. It is interesting being on the other side looking for money. There is a real opportunity to be a market mover. We will close out our first three investments in the summer.”
Opportunities for Northern Ireland
Millar is firmly focused on opportunities for Northern Ireland and believes it is “in a good place” at the moment.
“The Executive is back up and running now. Its closure was a drag on the economy. We also have the advantage of having dual trading access to the British and EU markets,” he says.
“In terms of sectors, some specialisms in areas like cybersecurity, IT and digitalisation, are doing very well. In advanced manufacturing and engineering, we have a hotbed in mid-Ulster, and fintech is also doing very well.”
Promoting Northern Ireland as a location for inward investment is important and activity has been ramping on this front, Millar says.
“The UK government hosted an investment summit last September. There were lots of businesses in the room along with a number of foreign investors, mainly from the US. That was followed by US Government Envoy Joe Kennedy hosting a trade summit.”
In attracting inward investment, Millar says Northern Ireland should leverage the strength of its very well-educated workforce as well as its dual market access.
“If there is one thing that could really help, it is having a corporation tax rate the same as the Republic of Ireland. It is currently 25 per cent here, double the 12.5 per cent rate for all but the very largest companies in the Republic of Ireland. That would be really impactful,” he says.
Funding advice for entrepreneurs
Drawing on his experience as an investor, Millar advises business owners seeking funding to engage early. “It takes longer to get to a funding decision now,” he explains.
“You need to know your business, know your markets and where the growth opportunities lie – and you need to know your numbers.
“Chartered Accountants play an important role there. When we see Chartered Accountants on the other side of the table presenting a business plan that hangs together, it gives the business a much better chance of funding. The drive and enthusiasm of the people pitching is important as well, of course.”
Promoters seeking equity funding should also keep their future exit in mind. “It could be a sale to another company, another private equity investment or a floatation,” Millar says.
“Investors want to see a growth and exit plan as that is how they will get a return on their investment. It is different if you are looking for a loan – in that instance, the lender will want to see hard evidence of your ability to repay.”
Interview by Barry McCall.
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