VCT Industry Report 2015-16

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Puma Investments is a subsidiary of Shore Capital Group Limited, an AIM listed company
with a 30 year history. Shore Capital has a network of five offices including London, Liverpool
and Edinburgh. The asset management division of Shore Capital, which incorporates Puma
Investments, manages approximately £800m. Puma Investments specialises in Inheritance Tax
Services, VCTs and EIS. Puma has raised over £250m in tax-efficient investments to date.
Dec 2012 - £3.1 million
Pubs & Restaurants
Across UK
170
Brewhouse & Kitchen (B&K) is a branded pub business
specialising in on-site brewing. In contrast to some of its
competitors the brewing operations take centre-stage in B&K
outlets and B&K brew a substantial amount of the beer sold.
Alongside this sits a quality food offering.
Brewhouse & Kitchen was founded in 2011 by experienced
pub sector professionals Kris Gumbrell and Simon Bunn both
of whom are shareholders. At the time the UK pub sector was
experiencing significant change but Kris and Simon spotted
a strategic opportunity in the fast growing Craft beer market
and have capitalised on it. In three years B&K has grown to
eleven pubs and over 170 employees.
The B&K model sits best within operating freehold units
of 4,000 square feet or more. Sales of beer brewed on site
enhance margin due to lower excise duties on small scale
brewing operations.
RATIONALE FOR INVESTMENT: At the point of investment
Brewhouse & Kitchen had raised around £1.5million of EIS
equity including substantial sums from the principals. The
Puma VCTs supplemented that equity by providing funds to be
drawn against approved site acquisitions. As such, the Puma
VCTs benefited from fixed charge security throughout their
involvement, whilst earning a compelling yield. Puma took
comfort from the vision, experience and personal commitment
of the management team whilst knowing that their investment
was underpinned by this security
GROWTH IN REVENUE AND EMPLOYMENT: Since
receiving investment from the Puma VCTs, Brewhouse &
Kitchen grew from 0 to 11 sites and from 2 to over 170 staff
on a full and part-time basis. Revenues have grown to an
annualised level of over £4.7m generating annualised EBITDA
across the group of nearly £900,000. The group has acquired
valuable freehold sites in key locations across the South of
England, including two flagship units in London, and generated
significant brand value and positive press.
Aug 2014 - £8.8 million
Materials Recycling
Finmere Quarry,
North Oxfordshire
50
Opes Industries Limited (“Opes”) operates a Materials
Recycling Facility (“MRF”) on a 70 hectare non-hazardous
landfill and aggregates site in Finmere, North Oxfordshire.
The MRF allows Opes to divert the waste arriving on its site
away from landfill where it would traditionally have ended
up and into several more productive and environmentally
responsible channels. These include recycling (and sale) of
various sorted metals and bundling of plastics and dried
organics into bales or a usable fuel known as SRF or “solid
refuse fuel”.
Opes has planning permission to develop a waste to energy
plant on its site which will use gasification technology to
generate electricity directly from the SRF produced from its
own throughput. The site also retains significant aggregate
reserves.
RATIONALE FOR INVESTMENT: Puma’s investment was
underpinned by the large freehold site in Oxfordshire. This
site has significant value, underpinned by aggregates plus
extraction rights, and landfill with intact void capacity. The
planning permissions to building a materials recycling facility
and a waste to energy plant gave further comfort. The site is
well located with good road access.
The sponsors of the deal had contributed significant personal
equity and had assembled an experienced management team
who were already in place. This team included operational
personnel that had been involved throughout the planning stages
and had extensive knowledge of the site and market.
GROWTH IN REVENUE AND EMPLOYMENT: Since the
initial Puma investment the Opes business has grown from what
was effectively a stagnant landfill business to an operating MRF.
The development of the company has happened on the back
of major capital expenditure on equipment and construction
works, substantially funded by the capital injection provided by
the Puma VCTs.
0207 408 4070