Customer Comments:

A wide range of organisations have taken out the annual Subscription to the Gibson Index database, including the UK’s Department of Business and research group QinetiQ plc. Not all of these are at liberty to comment on the service, however.

However, here are some opinions from leading figures in UK enterprise:

Since 1994 Richard Farleigh has been the biggest private investor in British technology companies and his successes include ARC Cores, Amino Communications and Wolfson Semiconductor, which have all floated on the London Stock Exchange, and young companies such as the Bristol electronics firm Clearspeed Ltd. He is best known for his role in the BBC TV series ‘Dragon’s Den’, in which people with ideas andproducts offer them to a group of successful entrepreneurs. On the Gibson Index, Mr Farleigh remarked:

“Marcus Gibson’s SME database is by far the most comprehensive I have seen. The sector is extremely diverse, so identifying particular types of companies can be extremely difficult. Consequently the database is a very useful tool which can enable potential investors to find what they are looking for, far more easily.”

Prof Damien McDonnell is Chief Executive of the the MoD’s specialist SME liaison agency, the Defence Diversification Agency (DDA), understands that the SME sector often difficult to access, track and support. The DDA’s role is to develop close links with small firms on a national basis in order to source technology that would be useful for applications required by the MoD. He said:

“The comprehensive information Marcus has compiled as an individual is most impressive. I immediately saw that its depth and breadth could be used to augment the DDA’s own Knowledge Brokering Network. When applied alongside the DDA’s processes and experienced staff, real benefit could be extracted for the UK’s technology dependent businesses, regions and markets.”