INVEST in Community Energy

Bath & West Community Energy is a Community Benefit Society. This means that:

• We are primarily for the benefit of the community at large, rather than just for our members. For more details see our Community Benefit page.

• We have democratic decision-making built into our structure. 

• We can pay interest on members’ share capital but we cannot distribute surpluses to members in the form of dividends. 

• We have an asset lock that protects the founding principles and ethos of the business.

For more information on Community Benefit Societies and how they differ from Cooperative Societies, another form of Industrial and Provident Society see here.

BWCE is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our registration number is 30960R

Our democratic governance is centred on one member one vote regardless of the amount they have invested, so no individual or group of individuals has overall control of the Society. 

BWCE is run by a Board of Directors, elected from the membership with options to co-opt up to three further Directors who have specific skills (e.g. finance, legal). Only our Managing Director is paid a salary with other Directors offering their services on a purely voluntary basis.

Membership of BWCE is through shareholding with the following eligible to become a member. 

• Individuals over the age of 16.

• For under 16s, shares can be held on their behalf and transferred to their ownership on their 16th birthday.

• Membership is also open to corporate bodies (e.g. charities, limited companies, co-operatives) and certain types of pension funds, such as Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs).

Shares are valued at £1 each. The minimum shareholding is £100 and the maximum is £100,000, per member.

The current Shares are being offered with an annual target interest rate of 5.75%, subject to project performance. Interest rates will not exceed this target rate for these shares.

You can apply at any time, when a share offer is open, but shares will be allocated every 2 months on the last day of January, March, May, July, September and November.

Interest on shares will start to accrue from the next allocation date after share applications and payments have been received. Successful applications will receive a share certificate and their details and holdings will be recorded in BWCE’s share register managed by Neville Registrars on our behalf.

You will be able to participate in decision making. As a member you will have one vote regardless of the number of shares you own. One Member – One Vote

You will be able to stand for election to BWCE’s board. If successful you will be able to hold the post for a period of three years before resigning or re-standing for election.

Membership is governed by our rules which are available to download here.

Membership of BWCE is based on shareholding which is open to anyone aged 16 or over who supports the aim of the Society. Shares are valued at £1 each. Membership is secured through a minimum shareholding of £100. The maximum shareholding is £100,000 per member.

We pay our members interests on their shares, this is not a distribution of profits but is regarded by the Financial Conduct Authority (our registering body) as a cost on the business.

We have around 1,000 members, the majority are from the local area but we do also have national and international members. BWCE is run democratically. Members have one vote regardless of the number of shares they own. One Member – One Vote.

Membership is available when we have a share offer running.

If investing is not an option but you would like to support Community Energy there are other ways in which you can help, by supporting our projects, championing community energy in your community, talking to friends, family, neighbours, colleagues about community energy, volunteering or joining our team. Follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter or check out our Get Involved page.

Not all investors are members, occasionally we run a Bond Offer, this is a different type of investment. Bond holders do not become members of BWCE and are not involved in the governance of the organisation or given voting rights at our AGM. This is sometimes more attractive to national investors who have less geographic links to the projects.

BWCE is required to send out share interest payments gross of tax (in other words with no tax deducted) and we are also required to provide to the Inland Revenue the names and addresses of shareholders who received share interest payments greater than £250.  The interest should be declared on the tax return relating to the tax year you receive the actual money (NOT for the year in which it was earned by BWCE). 

If in any doubt you must consult HMRC or your financial advisor.

Shares are withdrawable at the discretion of the BWCE board.

Applications for share withdrawal are considered once a year at the first board meeting after 1st July. Our policy on share withdrawal can be found here.