LONDON, June 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
HCT Group, the UK's leading community
transport operator, announced today that it has secured a £17.8
million funding package with the help of ClearlySo , Europe's leading impact investment bank. The
funding will be used to accelerate HCT Group's growth, providing
the working capital to continue their rapid expansion and to
provide the funds to acquire commercial bus operators and turn them
into social enterprises.
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In today's world the more vulnerable
you are, the greater barriers to access you face. A disabled person
travels just over half (57%) the distance per person per year when
compared to a non-disabled person - 4,245 miles per year versus
7,670 miles. A full quarter (25%) of people with disabilities
report difficulties with any type of trip. These figures represent
a substantial diminishment of disabled people's lives -
opportunities missed, friendships eroded, leisure foregone,
horizons closed off.
Originally founded in 1982, HCT Group is a rapidly growing
social enterprise that helps tackle this social isolation by
providing transport for marginalised people and communities, paid
for by the revenues of commercial bus contracts. HCT Group operates
at genuine scale, with a fleet of 732 vehicles based in 13 depots,
safely providing over 30 million passenger journeys per year.
ClearlySo supported HCT Group in all facets of the fundraise,
including advising on terms, development of the financial model,
and approaching and negotiating with existing and new lenders,
including two commercial investors new to impact investment.
Big Issue Invest led the round which consists of a refinance of
legacy debt and an injection of new capital. City Bridge Trust,
Esmée Fairbairn, HSBC, MFS, Phone Co-op, Social and Sustainable
Capital, TriplePoint and four high-net-worth individuals from the
ClearlySo network also participated.
Dai Powell, chief executive of
HCT Group, stated: "Since our last fundraising round, HCT Group has
grown by over 40 percent, using the investment to help resource our
growth. Social isolation remains a vast and growing problem and the
latest funding will enable us to accelerate beyond organic growth
to bring our services to even more people."
Further commenting, Chris
Parsons, head of investment banking at ClearlySo: "This is
the largest fundraise by a social enterprise in the UK so far in
2018 and provides further evidence that you can build a sustainable
business that generates an enormously positive social impact.
ClearlySo is proud to work with HCT Group, a client for over ten
years, to help them obtain the funding they need to reduce social
isolation through access to transport."
Notes to the Editors
About HCT Group
HCT Group is a social enterprise in the transport industry,
safely providing over 30 million passenger trips on our buses every
year. We deliver a range of transport services - from London red buses to social services transport,
from school transport to whole bus networks, from community
transport to education and training. We reinvest the profits from
our commercial work into further transport services or projects in
the communities we serve.
www.linkedin.com/company/hct-group
About ClearlySo
ClearlySo is Europe's leading
impact investment bank, working exclusively with businesses,
charities, and funds delivering positive social, ethical, and/or
environmental impact as well as financial return.
Originally founded in 2008, ClearlySo has helped more than 130
clients raise more than £175 million in impact investment from its
extensive network of high-net-worth individual and institutional
investors.
In addition, ClearlySo ATLAS helps investors assess the social
and environmental impact of their venture capital and private
equity investments and guides them towards a sustainable investment
strategy.
ClearlySo is headquartered in London.
www.linkedin.com/company/clearlyso
https://twitter.com/ClearlySo
Further Information
Frank Villeneuve-Smith
Communications Director
HCT Group
E: frankvilleneuve-smith@hctgroup.org
T: +44-(0)207-608-8954
Quynhnhu Nguyen
Marketing Manager
ClearlySo
E: quynhnhu.nguyen@clearlyso.com
T: +44-(0)207-490-9520