A Chat with Will Macpherson, Founder at Micro Angel Investment Group: CAM Ventures

CAM Ventures is a micro-investment and consultancy for the hospitality sector. We invest in and support hospitality talent to operate their own ventures at a time where external funding is very hard to come by.

We do not only invest but we give the hospitality businesses access to some exceptional resources that cover anything from operations and marketing to health & safety. We want every venture to be the vision and aspirations of the founder by using our investment and our expertise.

We also offer operational and food & beverage consultancy to established hospitality businesses that require extra resource to ensure they lead their own market in a very challenging time. Not all operators have the resources in-house to be fully objective and proactive just now, so that’s where we come in.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
The Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged through the hospitality industry and has left some great talent left on the scrap heap. I could see a lot of great people being let go from large, branded hotel operations but could also see the public desire to buy and experience independent and local hospitality.

I then wanted to break down the barriers that stop these talented individuals controlling their own futures and these barriers were generally investment and business acumen out with of their specific skill set. By creating an approachable and informal company, I wanted to encourage anybody to get in touch whether they had a full business plan or just an idea so we could explore every option and hopefully helps as many people as possible.
 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
The idea of CAM Ventures was conceived during the second lockdown when the number of redundancies within hospitality started to increase. The pandemic highlighted how people were having to become resourceful to make a living but sometimes they did not have all the tools available to them, so I wanted to do something as a commercial venture that would also help people realise their ambitions.

As the current restrictions are easing people are starting to make their plans happen and I have really enjoyed the conversations I have had with people that want to build their businesses whilst the recovery starts.
 

What can we hope to see from CAM Ventures in the future?

 
I hope that over the next couple of years we will have interests in a variety of businesses that started small but have grown into scalable ventures and are delivering returns for us, but more importantly for the founders. I hope that by 2024 we will also be investing in and operating larger hospitality businesses but still giving the opportunities to those who need it most.