Becoming an investor

The biggest benefit you receive as an Investor Member is the knowledge that your funds are being used to support local action to tackle the global issue of climate change and, through that, you are making a tangible difference to the future of your community. In addition, we offer: 

• Membership of the Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited
• A stake in a successful community energy enterprise with a proven track record
• Delivery of environmental and community projects resulting in local action on climate change
• Democratic voting rights, with one member, one vote, at our AGM
• Opportunity to elect the Board who govern the Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited
• The Fund has a target interest rate of 5% for each year following the fourth anniversary of your investment, and 4% per annum before that
• Interest accrued from the day your investment is accepted by the Low Carbon Hub IPS Board
• The right to apply to withdraw your capital from the fourth year of investment
• A regular opportunity to increase your support for community energy. 

Individuals, charities, and other organisations may invest in this offer. You can also buy and hold shares on behalf of children. We require all Investor Members to have a UK bank account.

We are offering £1 shares with a minimum investment of £100 and the maximum investment is £100,000. If you would like to invest more than this, please get in touch with us directly.

Whenever we open a share offer we will announce it on our website with a detailed Share Offer Document. Check this page for announcements about live share offers. Sign up to the newsletter to be the first to hear about new opportunities.

Investor shareholders become Members of The Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited and will have a say in the running of the organisation. As a member, you are entitled to:

• A vote: all Members are entitled to one vote in the Annual General Meeting
• The right to attend general meetings, at which Board members are elected
• The right to stand for election to the Board.

In line with co-operative principles, we operate on the principle of ‘one member, one vote’, so all member shareholders have equal say regardless of the size of their investment.

Our members vote in the Board of Directors and take part in our Annual General Meeting.

Under our Rules people of any age can become Members, so children can apply to become Members. Alternatively you have the option of holding shares on behalf of someone who is under 16. Following that person’s 16th birthday they may become a Member of the Society and those shares can be passed on to them.

If you would like to purchase shares on behalf of children you will need to complete both a paper copy of the main application form and the Holding shares on behalf of children form available to download here. Unfortunately we do not have the facilities to accept applications on behalf of children online.

No, a member cannot sell or transfer any of their Class ‘A’ Shares to any other person, including family members. The only exception to this is if the shares were originally bought on behalf of a child. In this case, the shares can be passed on to them when they turn 16 [see question below].

If you lose your share certificate, contact us at members@lowcarbonhub.org and request a replacement. There may be a charge for a reissue.

‘A’ class shares are ‘withdrawable’ shares that cannot be sold, traded or transferred between Members, unlike the ‘transferable’ shares typical of a limited company, and only the Low Carbon Hub IPS can buy them back.

Although they are technically ‘withdrawable’, we encourage our investors to view their investment as a long-term commitment to the project. The financial models of our projects plan to return your capital over the lifetime of the project, it is anticipated that the bulk of the capital will be available for withdrawal towards the end of the project. This means it is unlikely that we can fulfil withdrawal requests early on in the lifetime of the project.

Whilst you retain the right to request to withdraw your shares, please note that withdrawal isn’t guaranteed and in the early years is unlikely to be able to be met. Ultimately, all requests are approved at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

If you would like to request to withdraw your shares, please contact members@lowcarbonhub.org.

Please refer to The Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited Rules for more information on withdrawing shares.

If a Member dies, the repaid value of the shares will normally be added to the estate for probate purposes. The simplest way to ensure your shares will be trasnferred in line with your wishes is to complete a nomination of shares form. This will be sent out with share certificates and can also be downloaded from the Low Carbon Hub website.

If a Member dies more than two years after investing, the shares may qualify for 100% relief under Business Relief for Inheritance Tax because the shares are unlisted.

We always suggest that investors seek external advice on their estate planning. If you’d like more information, please contact us on members@lowcarbonhub.org.

Although we are using third parties to assist with the administration of the share offer, the Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited controls and is responsible for the use of your information. We will use your data to keep you up to date with the work of the Low Carbon Hub IPS Limited. We will not sell, rent, or lend your data to other organisations. Our Privacy Statement is available here.

We are committed to keeping in regular communication with our investors. On becoming an investor, we will add you to our investor mailing list which we use to send you important information about your membership in the Hub, invitations to the AGM, plus any updates or news related to your investment.

You can also sign up to receive the Low Carbon Hub newsletter, a regular email that keeps our members informed on the whole Low Carbon Hub project, including community benefit projects, new share offers, project builds and much more.

We will send you an Annual Report which includes the performance summary of your investment(s).

We intend to pay our investor shareholders interest on their shares, however, this is not guaranteed.

We are permitted to pay interest on shares, but according to FCA regulation we cannot offer a generous interest rate and may pay no interest at all. Financial performance is based on assumptions which are subject to variation and cannot be guaranteed. The timing of interest payments and rate of interest will be determined by the Board of Directors.

Find out more about portfolio performance here.

To find out more about what return you can expect and the timings for potential returns, visit the previous offers page.

There is no guarantee of receiving a return on your investment. Investors may receive back less than their original investment, and may not get back their original investment at all. You can read more about the risks of investing in the particular Share Offer Document related to your share class (available above).

Whilst there are of course risks associated with investing, the Low Carbon Hub has a track record of managing large-scale investment opportunities successfully.

No, unlike company shares cooperative and community benefit society shares cannot go up in value, but they can go down, meaning that you could lose some of all of the money you invest.

Due to our structure as a Registered Society, our shareholders can receive interest payments on their investment (rather than dividends), and these are limited under legislation to what is necessary to attract and retain the investment.

• Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS): The government ceased to provide relief to the generation of renewable electricity by community organisations in 2016. 
• Personal Savings Allowance: The interest we pay counts as savings income. This means the interest you receive from your investment may qualify for tax relief under the Personal Savings Allowance. If you’re a basic rate taxpayer you can earn up to £1,000 in savings income tax-free. Higher rate taxpayers can earn up to £500. 
• Inheritance Tax benefit: If a Member dies more than two years after investing, the shares can qualify for 100% relief under Business Relief for Inheritance Tax because the shares are unlisted.

If you have a question not covered here, please contact members@lowcarbonhub.org.