Insider Media Limited

Andrew Springhall, the owner of venture capital firm Turning Point, has called for sweeping changes in the way funding is delivered to budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to Insider, Springhall also talked about RDAs “wasting taxpayers’ money” in the past.

Springhall, talking at an Insider event, said: “We’ve lived in an environment where funding has been very easy to come by, and the government puts huge amounts of money through the RDAs. We’ve seen people go to RDAs to learn how to put a business plan together, and that, to me, is a huge waste of taxpayer’s money.”

Springhall said the whole system of funding should be entirely turned around so that money should be going to those who already have entrepreneurial skills.

He added: “Emda did some good and bad things, but there needs to be an understanding that this era is changing, and there needs to be a different way of approaching and helping the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

“The businesses that we see are ones that already have a solid trading history. They’ve got that model, and now they want to learn how to grow to the next level. It’s an ongoing challenge.”

Springhall said businesses have to be more flexible when it comes to raising finance.

He added: “Unfortunately, business owners still think it’s as easy to raise finance as it was three, four or five years ago, and there’s still a reluctance to accept the different landscape out there.”