LONDON – More than £200 million has been invested in UK community businesses in the last decade, using community shares – a unique form of finance. And a major fund has re-launched to generate further investment that will enable more businesses and communities to flourish.
The Booster Fund is offering business development grants and match funding to community businesses in England that are raising finance through community share offers.
Community shares are a way for people to pull together and take ownership of local buildings and land, or to develop new projects and services that benefit people in their community. Individuals purchase shares – from as little as £10 – and they receive a financial return as well as a stake in the business.
This innovative form of finance is uniquely available to co-operative and community benefit societies. It provides them with much needed money to start and grow. Because the business can set the terms for payback dates and interest rates, it also makes it a sustainable way to raise finance for businesses. A report published in October 2020 stated that of the businesses that have raised finance through community shares since 2012, 92% are still trading.
To date, there have been 126,340 investors in community shares, allowing people to take ownership of the services and spaces that matter most to them. It helps empower people at grass roots level, enabling them to have greater control over what happens in their community.
Leeds Action To Create Homes (LATCH) is one of those organisations. LATCH refurbishes derelict and run-down properties in Leeds to provide supported housing for people in housing need. Their community share offer raised £550,000 – which included match funding from the Community Shares Booster Fund – to enable them to provide more much-needed homes.
“That money will now transform lives,” said LATCH CEO James Hartley. “When the profile of investors came in, there’s a significant amount of people from Leeds. They’ve seen the juxtaposition of empty houses and homeless people. They know we’ll use the money to create positive change. There are 150 investors. They’re the people of LATCH now.”
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