Asian Companies Listing on AIM

In the past few decades, the Chinese economy has experienced phenomenal growth. And while growth had since slowed, it can’t be ignored that in 2014, China became only the second country in history (after America) to achieve economic output in excess of $10 trillion. In fact, even at the current rate of growth, China expected to surpass the US as the world’s largest economy within the next two decades.

It is no wonder then that foreign investors have been looking for ways to benefit from the Chinese success story. And there are plenty of Chinese investment opportunities right here in the UK. SMEs in China have long struggled to secure capital from Chinese banks and that has sent them elsewhere, including London’s AIM market.

But more recently, the reputation of Chinese AIM listed companies has taken a serious hit. It seems that after a few scandals involving Chinese companies, the market has lost faith in all of them. The problem for most Chinese companies therefore seems to be the result of suspicion and rumour. Of course, this is unfair – the Quindell and Tesco scandals have not resulted in investors blacklisting every UK Company.

So the question is, what can Chinese companies do to increase their appeal to UK investors and continue to tap a valuable source of funding through the AIM market? The simple answer: Transparency. After all, the best way to quash suspicions and rumour is by getting the truth out. So for any Chinese companies listing in London, effectively communicating to potential investors from the beginning is critical – and there are plenty of ways to do this.

The suspicions surrounding Chinese companies listing in London are largely fuelled by a literal lack of visibility. So first and foremost, Chinese companies seeking admission to the London Stock Exchange need to bear in mind that potential investors are based abroad and therefore not able to directly observe the day to day operations of the business. Transparency, achieved in part through increased publicity, is therefore key to bolstering investor confidence.

But an effective communications program requires much more than reaching out to the UK national and investor press only briefly ahead of the IPO. Companies need to communicate through wider media outlets and for a longer period of time in the build up to Admission in order to achieve a successful and hopefully oversubscribed fundraising.

One way to do this is by launching Corporate profiling exercises on the home front. Even when targeting a predominantly overseas audience, the relevance of local and trade press coverage should not be underestimated before an IPO.

This is particularly salient for smaller companies. UK journalists are unlikely to have heard of an Asian based SME considering an AIM IPO. If British journalists can discover an existing profile through good trade and local press coverage (and where appropriate a social media profile) as they go online for further information, it will increase the likelihood of positive UK press coverage at IPO.

Local media coverage is also important for investors, as it plays a key role in reassuring their confidence. If a company attempts to promote itself amongst UK investors without an already established press profile, it could make a company’s story, no matter how compelling, harder to believe. And given the current climate of suspicion, that is risk Chinese companies simply can’t take.

Simply put, a proactive communications program is strong evidence of a company’s willingness to honour its commitment to new and existing shareholders. And, perhaps more importantly, increased transparency will help reassure investors and help regain trust of the market. This strategy will not only help Chinese companies: With London seeking to cement its status as the world’s leading financial centre there is simply no way investors here can dismiss companies operating in a country set to become the world’s economic powerhouse.

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Weekly Wrap Up: This will blow your mind

With a headline like that, how could you NOT read this blog post? After all, that’s the point of click bait, the internet phenomenon made popular by websites such as Upworthy and Buzzfeed. Click bait essentially exploits the curiosity gap by omitting a key piece of information to entice someone to click and/or keep reading.

The digital era has created a wealth of opportunity to reach a much wider audience. But there has also been a struggle to understand how, exactly, one should go about doing so. This is certainly true for the PR industry, but also for traditional news organizations and even businesses, and it makes the extraordinary success of the click bait strategy all the more enviable.

So it came as somewhat of a surprise this week when Business Insider reported that Upworthy's cofounder Peter Koechley apologized for the sensational headlines that made him rich – and his website famous - at the Guardian's Changing Media Summit in London this week. Going forward, he’s saying “good-bye to click bait”.

Upworthy successfully embraced the digital disruption – so why change strategy now?

The problem with Upworthy’s click bait headlines is that they tend to over promise and then under deliver. And eventually readers will catch on and stop falling for the same trick.

On the other hand, if your headline is incredibly boring it doesn’t matter if your content over delivers – no one will bother reading it. That’s exactly why click bait headlines shouldn’t be so easily dismissed. They do offer something. After all, they get people reading.

So here’s where your mind is blown: the solution is actually quite simple, and Koechley pointed to it at the Guardian event. He went on to say that Upworthy’s new approach would include sharing powerful stories “…that put you in someone else's shoes to help you see the world in other people's eyes."

The Upworthy example underscores that any piece of writing in the digital era – whether it’s a press release, news article or even blog post - needs to not only capture a reader’s attention but also deliver on content.

So go ahead and write an intriguing headline that sparks interest – just make sure your writing actually fills that curiosity gap.



This week Abchurch hosted two successful market lunches and had insightful discussions with City advisers on the sentiments of the IPO market and the potential effect the 2015 election will have. We also hosted the Allenby Capital team for an enjoyable evening, as well as travelling to Newcastle to celebrate Quantum Pharma’s successful floatation on AIM party.



Investec Investment Banking appointed Serge Rissi as a director of financial sponsor transaction group, whilst Sarah Owen-Jones joined Rathbone Brothers as chief risk officer from RBS. Meanwhile, Baker Tilly appointed Rowan Williams as head of its professional services group.



"Click bait" – exploiting the curiosity gap by omitting a key piece of information to entice someone to click and/or keep reading.



If you are a beer drinker, you can’t miss this weekend Over the Hop Festival at the White Horse in Parsons Green. There will be live music, an outdoor BBQ and Six Nations screenings on Saturday.

Fancy a bit of Asia this weekend? Silk Road travels to Marylebone for one long weekend. The seventh annual Asia House Fair will feature dozens of exhibitors that represent the best in arts, crafts, fashion and design from across the pan-Asia region.

Whether you are a rugby lover or hater, the Six Nations Championship concludes on Saturday with three teams (Ireland, Wales & England) in contention for first place. Italy play Wales first at 12.30, followed by Scotland versus Ireland at 14.30, with finally England playing France at 17:30. If you are a rugby hater, we would recommend avoiding the pubs at those times!

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Is PR ready for the digital revolution?

Humankind has benefitted immeasurably from change and progress, and there is perhaps no greater example than the industrial revolution. But there are always winners and losers when it comes to change and progress. And that is important to remember now that we are in the third industrial revolution – the digital one.

The challenges of the digital revolution are already evident: it has become a ‘disrupt or be disrupted’ world. And that is as true for the PR industry as any other.

But just as the digital revolution brings new challenges to the PR industry, it also brings new opportunities. And Abchurch recently participated in an event that did an excellent job of highlighting these opportunities.

Abchurch is a member of IPREX, a network of communication agencies with over 100 offices worldwide. Last week, members of many of these agencies gathered in London for the 2015 IPREX Global Leadership Conference. The theme of the Conference was Beyond Silos: Operating and managing in an integrated communication industry.

One of the major topics at the conference was the changing media landscape, which is of course a result of the digital revolution. The event kicked off with a very insightful presentation by Arun Sudhaman, editor-in-chief of the Holmes Report. He discussed the period of change the PR industry is currently undergoing and how agencies can capitalise on these new opportunities. Arun pointed out, quite rightly, that if PR agencies don’t ‘future proof’ themselves they will become irrelevant.

It was also incredibly helpful to see how IPREX partners from around the world are tackling the challenges that arise in the digital era. Based on what was presented at the conference, it’s safe to assume that many IPREX partners are already winners of the digital revolution. There were plenty of examples that demonstrated just how much innovation benefits the communications industry. Although traditional forms of print media and editorial coverage are becoming scarcer, social media creates new opportunities, whether delivering information, creating buzz by pre-empting traditional media coverage or even creating and publishing content for clients. These initiatives by our IPREX partners proved they won’t become the blackberries of the PR industry.

One of the key takeaways of the conference is that a digital silo isn’t enough – the PR industry has to fully embrace the digital revolution to stay relevant. Change can be scary, but here at Abchurch we are embracing the opportunities digital innovation is bringing to the PR industry.

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Weekly Wrap Up: Steering tech coverage in the right direction

It looks like soon Britons won’t have to worry about driving home from the pub after having had a few too many. At least that’s what the Daily Mail coverage of the UK Government’s decision to allow driverless cars to be tested on public roads suggests.

In case you missed this story, the self-driving vehicles that will be seen in the UK as of next summer are like traditional cars but can also sense their environment and navigate without human input. The driverless cars that will be tested on UK roads, however, will be required to have a fully qualified test driver who could take over, should anything go awry.

Still, the Daily Mail jumped on the news, writing that occupants of driverless cars, “…won’t even need a driving license. And even those now considered ‘unfit’ to drive will be eligible.” In the same article, the writer eventually concedes that current laws actually prohibit this, but not without mentioning that this could change in the future.

And it wasn’t just the Daily Mail that presented driverless technology in the most horrifying way possible. The Telegraph responded with a headline asking, “Driverless cars sound great, but can we stop the sat nav driving us off bridges first?”

This headline refers to concern about whether vehicles controlled by software can be hacked, causing cars to crash into each other or “drive off a bridge”. Then again, human driven cars already crash and there’s no software update that will ever prevent this.

The press coverage of this new technology demonstrates how much the media enjoys a good technology scare story. Findings by the Pew Research Centre, an American think-tank, support this theory: research shows that the press has a tendency to express wariness about the effects of technology on our lives. In other words, it’s common for the press to take the “robots are taking over” angle when it comes to reporting on technology. This is certainly true for the coverage of driverless cars in the UK, and exactly why it’s especially important for technology to be presented in a way that showcases the benefits, of which there are usually many.

The truth about driverless cars is that they won’t just make life easier by perhaps allowing people to have a few drinks before getting behind the wheel, or reading, surfing the internet and even taking a nap all while driving – these cars will actually save lives.

In reality cars with a human driver behind the wheel are the real danger: a staggering 90% of car crashes are caused by human error. That is one of the main reasons the UK insurance industry supports driverless technology.

Consider airplanes for a moment: It’s a well-known fact that you are much more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash. That’s mainly due to the fact that airplane technology has advanced considerably in recent decades that planes basically fly themselves on auto-pilot, except at take-off and landing. In recent years almost all plane crashes have been due to human error, not the auto-pilot.

Furthermore it’s not just airplanes that have been improved by technology: Driverless underground systems already exist all over the world. And while this technology was met with resistance, it has proven to be safe and cost efficient.

In addition to significantly improving safety, driverless cars would be a boon to the British economy if this technology was developed here and exported. The industry is expected to be worth £900 billion by 2025, which is why the UK government wants to embrace the technology. The value of British car exports has nearly doubled in the past decade, but it could become vital to embrace driverless technology in order to maintain this momentum.

In short, driverless cars are poised to significantly improve our lives. However the negative media coverage seems to be having a significant impact on public opinion: 48% of the population would be unwilling to “drive” an autonomous vehicle, according to a survey by the price comparison website uSwitch.com. Of those surveyed, 16% were “horrified” merely by the idea of a driverless car.

There is an important lesson in the media coverage of driverless cars for tech companies: technology is an easy target for scaremongering. This is true not just for driverless cars, but all technology that will result in significant change, regardless of whether that change is positive or negative. When the media gets a hold of a good scare story, the facts can often become muddled. So the best approach for tech companies is to get ahead of the story and steer it in the right direction because even when it comes to reporting the facts, it’s almost always human error that results in disaster.



This week Abchaps attended the CIPR Speaker lunch where Chris Blackhurst of the Independent and Evening Standard was guest speaker. The event was very informative, discussing topics ranging from the future of journalism to current affairs. We also enjoyed an evening at the 48 Group Club Chinese New Year Icebreaker dinner.



Cantor Fitzgerald announced Deven Sthankiya as new managing director in its debt capital markets team. This appointment sees him move from HSBC. Edison, the investment intelligence firm added David Stoddart, Victoria Pease and Sara Welford to its research team. Finally, Robin Wilson, previously of Rightmove, was appointed Taylor Wessing’s new chief operating officer.



“Scare story” – the media’s tendency to take an issue wildly out of context in order to generate headlines.



Held almost every year since 1854, The Royal Photographic Society’s International Print Exhibition is the longest-running display of its kind in the world. With plenty of novelty on show, the photography ranges from documentary to natural history. The exhibition is free to view for people attending Royal Albert Hall performances or can be visited for free by the general public between 10am and 1pm on Saturday February 14.

Another exhibition, promising to be extremely thought provoking, is Mapping the City at Somerset House. This display of cartographic representations will allow you a glimpse of how more than 50 internationally recognised artists, from the graffiti and street art scenes, view the home towns they use as their canvas. Using digital technologies, illustration, sculpture, paintings, video presentations and even performances, its a very contemporary way to view cities from around the world.

Are you fan of Sunday’s involving kicking back and watching a good film? Head to the Barbican cinema where there’s a screening of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921), with a live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand.

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