Those who follow our share offer carefully will notice that our dial is starting to kick noticeably upward towards the finish line with just over 2 weeks to go. We’ve had some significant contributions in the last week or so – thanks to everybody, keep them coming. At the same time we have been able to reduce the overall target significantly due to negotiations which have been ongoing during the share offer period. Firstly, we have been able to agree a 3 year woodchip supply contract on good terms with our supplier. Our initial share offer target included £30,000 to pay up-front for woodchip which we therefore no longer need. We also made provision for a large contingency on top of the cost of the boiler installation. As we get nearer to actually installing, we are finding ways of reducing those uncertainties, so we’ve reduced our contingency fund requirement considerably. In all we have shaved around £50,000 off the overall cost of the project bring our target to £275,000 while still keeping a good margin in case of the unexpected. This is great news for the project as it means we are that much nearer to raising the funds we need and getting the installation going. It’s also good for members as it looks like it will increase returns somewhat in the early years and perhaps overall. Hopefully new members will be persuaded to come and join us - and some existing applicants have already increased their investment – the target may be lower, but we still have to get there!
Note that in order to make sure that we strictly comply with the terms of our share offer document, we will be seeking members approval at the end of the share offer period to proceed with the lower amount – we’d be surprised if anybody objected, however!