The Trustees of Holsworthy Community Property Trust with the Trust’s first affordable home

New Financial Mechanisms

Wessex Reinvestment Trust, supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Friends Provident Foundation has developed a new way for social enterprises to raise finance for innovative projects in the South West of England.  Three social enterprises have joined forces with Wessex to pilot this innovative and low cost method of raising share capital - Local Food Links Limited, Ecos Fund Limited, and Wessex Community Assets Limited, itself part of the WRT Group.  It provides a means for the investor to ensure that their money goes directly into social, ethical and community projects. 

Local Food Links Limited has developed a local hot meal service with 8 primary schools in the Bridport area

Investors can enjoy a big social return on their investment combined with a modest financial one (through Enterprise Investment Scheme tax relief in the case of Local Food Links Limited and through interest on funds invested with Ecos Fund Limited and Wessex Community Assets Limited). 

Research undertaken in the last 18 months has identified that many businesses incur high costs when raising investment for new ventures through existing routes.  These include high fixed interest rates and the expense attached to issuing a prospectus because of due diligence requirements.  For most community projects these costs can be prohibitively high. 

Local people at Worth Matravers who have helped set up the community land trust

Wessex has designed two new models that fit hand in hand with the needs of small, local initiatives.  The models adopt the concept of ‘Slow Money’¹, a term inspired by the Slow Food Movement, and anticipates that just as people now question the traceability of their food, in a similar way, so are they more concerned about how and where the money they invest is being used  By investing in ‘Slow Money’ as opposed to ‘Fast Money’ – synonymous with the anonymous world of global finance, investors may have to commit their funds for lower returns, but they will know where their money is going, how it is being used and will experience both a financial and social return – known in financial terms as ‘blended value’.

Wessex has enabled this through the development of new legal structures for two categories of projects seeking investment ‘enterprise’ and ‘community assets’.  ‘Enterprise’ projects, such as Local Food Links Limited, are structured to allow a tax reducer (equivalent to 20% of the investment made).

Students enjoying a healthy school meal

To download the prospectuses for the three local organisations seeking to raise investment this way please click below.  For further information on investing please contact Alison Ward on 0845 478 6350 or via email alison.ward@wessexrt.co.uk.  If you are an organisation who would like to use the Wessex investment model for raising finance please also contact Alison Ward via the above contact details.

¹Woody Tasch, Chairman of Investors’ Circle, initiated the concept of ‘Slow Money’

DOWNLOADS (pdf)

Financial Mechanisms Project Final Report

Local Food Links Prospectus

PRESS RELEASES

Click here for press releases

LINKS

Other opportunities to invest

Torrs Hydro New Mills Limited is understood to be the first community owned hydro scheme
www.torrshydro.co.uk