Your project requires you to conduct a detailed business, accounting and financial analysis of two AIM listed companies. We have a number of databases that you can use to help you with this. For this resource we will focus on the Bloomberg and LSEG Workspace platforms, though we have other databases (such as Fame) which you can also use to find relevant information. Bloomberg terminals are iconic within the world of financial markets and traders, and you’ll see plenty representations of the famous black and orange multi-screen terminals in the media. They can commonly be viewed in the back ground of news reports which feature financial markets, and in TV programmes that focus on the cut and thrust of corporate politics such as HBO’s Billions or Succession. You will also find them within the Finance Zone of the Eddie Davies Library, including a multi-screen version of the terminal. As academic customers our terminals are subject to a 15 minute delay meaning you won’t be able to out-flank the likes of George Soros on multi-million dollar trades. You do have access however to a 24-hour, global financial services system that provides reliable financial, economic and government information covering all market sectors. It features company financials, market data spanning more than 20 years, charts, statistics, a communications platform and current news reports. We will also look at the information provided by a rival product to Bloomberg, LSEG Workspace. This also provides a comprehensive package of financial data and analysis, including easy access to ESG data which may prove particularly useful for this project.

Bloomberg and LSEG Workspace (as well as other databases such as Fame) are great for finding facts, figures and data. As we have seen you can also access some analysis through the news and reports features. However your assignment also requires you to look at key trends in your chosen sector, and provide some analysis around the potential impact of any political or economic uncertainties which are faced by the your chosen sector. You have also been asked to think about factors which will appeal to an ethical investor. For these elements we have many other sources of information, which will help you to write a detailed and well informed analysis. The Library provides access to market research publications, economic and demographic information and articles from trade news publications. These will all help you to pick out important trends within your chosen sector and identify key issues in the industrial landscape. These sources are chiefly aimed at those working in specific sectors, so you will usually find some extended discussion of the potential opportunities and threats being faced in your chosen sector. We also have extensive holdings of practitioner and academic research publications which you can use to get up to speed with the latest thinking around ethical investment decision making processes. In the next section we will look at some of the databases you can use to help you with this.