Investment Fund for Wales announces investment in Swansea renewable energy provider

Press release 03 May 2024

Cymraeg

£130m Investment Fund for Wales announces the second debt finance deal.

The British Business Bank announces the second debt finance deal from the £130m Investment Fund for Wales, with a £100,000 investment from the Debt Finance fund, managed by appointed fund managers FW Capital.

The investment into Economy Energy Group, a renewable energy provider based at Swansea Enterprise Park, is the second debt finance deal announced on behalf of the Investment Fund for Wales and comes just a few weeks after its first.

The Investment Fund for Wales was launched by the government-backed British Business Bank in November 2023 to boost the supply of early-stage finance to small and medium-sized businesses across Wales. The Fund offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25,000 to £100,000, debt finance from £100,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million.

Economy Energy Group was established in 2014 by veteran electrician Anthony Dixey to carry out electrical work for residential and commercial customers. Since then, the business has taken a lead in the renewable energy sector, and offers services including installing large commercial solar projects and electric vehicle charging points; providing off-grid renewable energy solutions for remote customers and ensuring clients’ homes are integrated with the latest in smart home technologies.

Over the past ten years the company has seen demand and its client base grow. Turnover has increased steadily in recent years, from £380,000 in 2022 to £620,000 in 2023, with post investment turnover for 2024 forecast to be £1.2m.

The support of the £100,000 loan from the British Business Bank is designed to facilitate further growth and has allowed Economy Energy Group to take on four new members of staff, taking their total to nine, adding to their roster of electricians, roofers and labourers, which includes two apprentices. They have also purchased a fork lift truck, four new vans, completed an office renovation and installed a complete IT system to help manage their ongoing growth.

Immediate future plans include engaging with all schools in the local area who have been provided with grants to install renewable energy solutions for their buildings, including solar panels and charging points. They are also working with ECO4 companies (a government energy-efficiency scheme designed to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions) to provide solar for homes currently running on coal and oil. Additionally, they also have a number of large, complex projects in the pipeline with RGM Vehicle Body Repairs and waste management and recycling firm, Gavin Griffiths Group, that up until the new investment they had been unable to facilitate.

We’re seeing more and more people come to us looking for solutions to their energy issues and advice on how best to improve and monitor their usage.

As a result we have strong growth potential and this loan from the Investment Fund for Wales gives us exactly what we need at the time we need it, to grow and provide green energy to more customers throughout the country.

Anthony Dixey Director of Economy Energy Group
We’re delighted to have provided this support to Economy Energy Group. They provide a much-needed range of services in the expanding renewable energy sector to domestic and commercial customers throughout Wales, and there’s further scope for them in the coming years as that grows. The support provided from the Investment Fund for Wales will ensure their business can grow viably and sustainably in order to meet that demand. Rhodri Evans Fund manager, Investment Fund for Wales, FW Capital

We are particularly pleased to see the Investment Fund for Wales actively working for businesses like Economy Energy Group who are involved in developing the Green Economy and helping us move towards a net zero future.

Their ambition and the strong demand that they have developed for their services is to be admired and supported and we hope that this new investment will go a long way to helping them realise their goals.

Mark Sterritt Director, Nations and Regions Investment Funds, British Business Bank

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact mediaenquiries@british-business-bank.co.uk.

Notes to editors

About the Investment Fund for Wales

Operated by the British Business Bank, the Investment Fund for Wales (IFW) provides a mix of debt and equity funding. IFW will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the various support and funding organisations from Welsh Government as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Wales’ smaller businesses at all stages of their development.

The funds in which the IFW invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in all areas of Wales, including but not limited to North Eastern Wales, North Western Wales, Mid Wales, South West Wales and South East Wales.

Supported by Nations and Regions Investments Limited, a subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the Bank is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. Neither Nations and Regions Investments Limited nor British Business Bank plc are authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Find out more information on the Investment Fund for Wales

About FW Capital

FW Capital is a fund management company currently managing UK-based funds over £315.8m.

FW Capital manages the £30m IFW – FW Capital Debt Finance fund, party of the £130m Investment Fund for Wales, on behalf of the British Business Bank. Finance of £100,000 to £2million is available to businesses across Wales.

FW Capital is part of the DBW Group one of the UK’s largest SME investors. The DBW Group manages funds of in excess of £1.9 billion. 

Find out more information on the Development Bank of Wales.