Helping hand for struggling SMEs

Former NAB and ANZ executive Anthony Healy is on the lookout for firms to add to his portfolio of investments in the Australian Business Growth Fund.

Australian Business Growth Fund CEO Anthony Healy.Picture: Supplied

With small business insolvencies reaching the highest level since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), cash has never been harder to find.

Former NAB and ANZ executive Anthony Healy, who knows first-hand the challenges small businesses face attracting capital in a tough economy, was in Brisbane this week on the lookout for firms to add to his portfolio of investments in the Melbourne-based Australian Business Growth Fund (ABGF).

Four years during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Healy founded ABGF, with the backing of banks and the government, to take equity stakes in promising SMEs that needed a capital injection. ABGF now has a portfolio that covers everything from airline services to dental clinics. Healy tells your diarist he is about to announce a big investment in a Queensland company as part of ABGF’s growing presence in the Sunshine State.

“While Queenslanders grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, Queensland businesses are increasingly concerned with the cost-of-doing business,” Healy tells City Beat.

Australian Business Growth Fund CEO Anthony Healy

“The effect of sustained increases in borrowing costs means SMEs have heightened cash flow challenges.” He says selling equity in a small business is often a better option than taking on more debt as it takes the pressure off owners and insulates them in tough times.

“It is particularly challenging for those businesses that have relied on debt to fund their business growth,” he says.

“With Queensland businesses adjusting to a sustained higher borrowing cost environment and subsequently higher debt burdens, access to funding for SMEs is more important than ever.”

Healy says these pressures are unlikely to abate over the short-to-medium term, so unlocking equity funding for SMEs must remain a high priority.
The latest data from the State Government shows more than 97.3 per cent of Queensland businesses are small firms, and contribute $119 billion to the economy every year. SMEs also are major employers, providing jobs for almost 1.6 million Queenslanders.

Uniquest hire

Venture capitalist Anne-Marie Birkill has joined the board of UniQuest.

Birkill, who brings more than 35 years’ of experience in executive leadership and product development, is a co-founder of Venture Partner and executive director for OneVentures, a $600 million venture capital firm that invests in technology companies with global potential.

Birkill says UniQuest’s track record in bridging the intellectual property-to-product gap was outstanding and she was looking forward to being part of the team.

“Australia’s wealth of intellectual property is a testament to our brilliant minds but the gap between ground breaking ideas and their translation into tangible products and services remains a hurdle,” she says. UniQuest is The University of Queensland’s main commercialisation company, with access to UQ’s 7,000 world-class researchers.

Australian Investment Council board member Anne-Marie Birkill

Marine gong

The Boat Works boss Tony Longhurst has been recognised for his work in the marine sector with a top industry gong. Longhurst, a three-time Bathurst 1000 Champion during his 30-year motor racing career, took on ownership of the Gold Coast shipyard in 2012 and has since overseen the planning, construction, expansion and operation of the facility..

Longhurst was presented with the 2024 Marine Industry Champion of the Year Award at this year’s Australian Marine Industry Awards Gala Dinner on the Gold Coast last week. The Boat Works is the Gold Coast’s largest industrial site and supports more than 2,000 jobs.

The sun came out for Tony Longhurst at the official Boatworks opening . Picture Glenn Hampson