GSE Research

Growth Fund - Loans & Equity Case Study

The Company

Leeds-based GSE Research is a specialist online scholarly publisher in governance, social responsibility, sustainability and environment for policymakers and practitioners.

John Peters, the former CEO of Emerald Group Publishing, is re-entering the market with GSE Research Ltd, which is being partially funded by Finance Yorkshire.

The company has already established partnerships with a number of high profile organisations in India, the USA and Belgium.

The Challenge

As a new venture, GSE Research is looking to expand its reach into the global market. It aims to publish a variety of materials including academic working papers, corporate research and e-books.

The company has also established the GSE Social Enterprise Fund, which guarantees a percentage of the company’s revenue to good causes internationally.

The Solution

Finance Yorkshire’s equity fund has made a £500,000 investment in GSE Research.

John Peters, chief executive of GSE Research, said: “We are delighted to be supported by Finance Yorkshire and advisors at Squire Sanders Hammonds in Leeds, and are pleased they share our vision for the business. Sustainable management and good governance is such an important area and one where we are pleased to be playing our part.”

Squire Sanders Hammonds’ corporate partner, Jonathan Jones led the team advising GSE Research, alongside senior associate Jayne Aarons. Pinsent Masons, led by Michelle Kershaw and Peter Wood, advised the Finance Yorkshire Equity Fund on its investment along with Bill Mitchell at Bertoli Mitchell and Adrian Driscoll at Caxtonia.

The Investment Rationale

Craig Hopwood, who led the investment on behalf of the Fund, added: "GSE is aiming to bring an exciting and different approach to a quite traditional industry, and Finance Yorkshire is delighted to be able to support this venture in its early stages.

“John has a very strong background in the sector, having successfully grown and developed much larger businesses and we are looking forward to working with him and the management team he has built around him."

Future Expectations

John added: “GSE is committed to ethical trading standards. We believe a for-profit business should contribute to the community it draws from and serves. Our social enterprise fund pledges ten percent of our annual revenues to good causes, chosen by our community of members. We operate a fair and transparent pricing policy, and non-restrictive author agreements.”

Note: this case study is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire