The Future Fund scheme

Update 2 November 2020:

It has been announced that the Future Fund Scheme will be extended until 31 January 2021. This has been confirmed by the British Business Bank on its website.

Update 30 June 2020:

It has been announced by the Government that more start-ups and innovative firms will be able to apply for investment via the Future Fund scheme from 30 June 2020. Companies which have participated in accelerator programmes are now eligible for the Future Fund scheme.

Additionally, the Government confirmed in its news story post that more than 320 early-stage, high-growth firms have so far benefitted from £320.6 million worth of support in the form of convertible loans through the Future Fund scheme, which surpasses the £250 million initial funding made available by the Government, demonstrating the popularity of the scheme.

Changes to the scheme’s eligibility criteria will mean that UK companies who have participated in highly selective accelerator programmes and were required, as part of that programme, to have parent companies outside of the UK will now be able to apply for investment.

Accelerator programmes, such as Techstars or Y Combinator give businesses access to finance, mentorship and expert networks. Participants in accelerator programmes are often required to set up a non-UK parent company in order to participate which means some did not meet the Future Fund criteria of having a UK parent company when it opened for applications in May of this year.

The change announced by the Government covers accelerator alumni only and companies will still be required to meet the ‘substantive economic presence’ tests (i.e. that half or more of its employees are UK-based and/or half or more of the company’s revenues are attributable to UK sales), along with the other existing qualifying criteria as set out below.

The BBB’s scheme update dated 30 June 2020 (link provided below) provides as follows regarding the update: “The change will help support innovative UK companies that, until now, didn’t qualify for the Future Fund because they had to register in an overseas jurisdiction to participate in an accelerator programme. Being accepted to an accelerator programme can be highly competitive, and some of the UK’s highest-potential companies have benefited from the rigour, mentoring, investment and networks of accelerators overseas. It has been decided that these innovative UK companies with good potential should not be excluded from the scheme”.

Update 11 June 2020:

The BBB has provided advice to help future applicants under the Future Fund scheme. The BBB’s scheme update states that, in order to ensure your application is processed as swiftly as possible, you should do the following:

• provide all of the investor data asked for as part of the portal application when you first apply, in particular with respect to any other investors in the syndicate – for example, the BBB requires the date of birth of all individual investors to ensure it can correctly identify the persons concerned;
• check the name on the applications is correct for the appropriate parties;
• provide a clear passport image for the representative completing the application;
• make sure the amounts to be invested by the third-party investors have been totalled correctly;
• provide supporting evidence to demonstrate that at least £250k of third-party equity investment has been raised in the past 5 years;
• provide information to confirm the nominated solicitor, in particular a Solicitors Regulation Authority number, or practicing certificate number if in Northern Ireland or Scotland;
• if an investor is located overseas, provide the registry documents that show ownership and directors as required, and if a regulated investor is involved then you will need to supply the relevant supporting evidence;
• if an investor is a fund, make sure the appropriate fund is named as the investing party;
• for an investing company, provide details of the individual who will be signing the convertible loan agreement on behalf of the investor so as to facilitate the signing process;
• for parties that have received state aid in the past, you should ensure that you have the details of the nature of the state aid funding available for submission; and
• check the “Private Investors” definition as per the glossary of terms and take legal advice if required.

Update 29 May 2020:

On 29 May 2020, the JLN team attended a webinar titled “Future Fund Explained by The Experts”, which was hosted by Anthony Rose (CEO and Co-Founder of SeedLegals) and David Martin (Partner in the corporate team at West End law firm Simons Muirhead & Burton).

Below are the salient points which we took from the webinar as well as some insightful Q&As:

• One of the procedural/administrative difficulties with drafting a Future Fund scheme application is that you cannot edit an application (i.e. the site on which applications are drafted and submitted operates as a ‘single session system’). The investor responsible for drafting and submitting the application should therefore be provided with a checklist of all the information that is required so that no details are omitted (given that it is not possible to edit an application, if any detail is omitted then you will most probably need to launch a new application).

• The Government doesn’t want to be investing alongside illegitimate money and so the best way for them to protect themselves against this risk is to ensure that an accredited (i.e. SRA regulated) solicitor’s firm is involved. The solicitor will conduct KYC/AML checks on the investors in the usual way and then receive the investor’s funds into their firm’s client account. Once the investors’ funds have been sent to the solicitor’s client account, the solicitor will confirm this with BBB by sending them relevant evidence. If BBB are satisfied with this, the solicitor will release the funds from their client account to the company, and the Government will then (and only then) release the matched funding.

• Investors have to fall within certain categories in order to be eligible to participate in the Future Fund scheme (as detailed below). This broadly means that the investors can fully acknowledge/appreciate the risks attached to such investments and have relevant experience with making these types of investment. Importantly, the investee company doesn’t check that the investors meet the eligibility criteria and the solicitors are also not asked to verify this – given that this is predominantly an investor-led process it will be down to the investors to satisfy themselves that they are eligible to participate in the scheme.

• The solicitor’s firm cannot be based overseas (i.e. outside of the UK) and must be registered with the relevant UK regulatory body (as detailed further below).

• If the loan converts, the Government will become a shareholder of the investee company. Generally, this isn’t something to be worried about given that the Government will be a “passive” shareholder (i.e. will not attend board meetings, vote on shareholder resolutions and won’t be concerned about whether the company is performing well). Importantly, the Government has the ability as part of the scheme to sell its debt (or equity if the loan has converted) to around five VC funds. If the Government sells the equity it holds in an investee company to a VC fund, that VC will have paid good money for the equity and will more than likely wish to operate in a different way (in its capacity as shareholder) than the Government. The VC fund could then become a troublesome shareholder on the investee company’s cap table, and those VC’s could hold shares in competing companies (perhaps this is why the VC bought the equity in the investee company in the first place).

• If an investor makes an application for £100k (for example), can you then add a higher amount to the application? Given that you cannot edit applications, the answer to this question is no. The investee company can certainly get more investment but the Government will only match fund the amount stated on the initial application. There are references within the convertible loan note agreement to a “headroom” amount – which allows for investors to add more to their initial investment amount, but the Government won’t match fund any such headroom figure.

• Is there any restriction on family members being investors? The answer to this question would be that this is permissible, although this comes with the caveat that the investors must satisfy themselves that they meet the eligibility criteria.

• Do the investors need to be based in the UK? Answer to this would be no, provided that the investor would qualify under the relevant law in their home jurisdiction to invest then it doesn’t matter where the investors are based.

• Example: say that your company has a pool of investors who have invested £200k into your company, which the Government has subsequently matched under the Future Fund scheme. If the company then does not commence a fundraising round within three years, the investors can either choose to convert the loan note in return for equity in the company or get their money back. If the investors opt for the latter, they will receive 2x their money back (i.e. the redemption premium under the scheme is significant). In this example, the company has received £200k from investors and £200k from the Government, and so in three years’ time if the company does not do a funding round then the company would have to pay back £800k plus interest. This is an important point to consider given that whichever option the investors decide, the Government will follow.

• If the company has received investment monies which were put in by investors who were expecting to benefit from SEIS/EIS tax reliefs, but the documents governing that investment are not binding (i.e. have not been signed) and the shares were never issued, then there appears to be a loophole in that the company could in such circumstances return the money back to investors and have the investors send them the money again (perhaps to the solicitors client account) in the knowledge that those monies will be used as part of the Future Fund scheme, not SEIS/EIS. In such circumstances, the relevant investors would need to agree to forgo the SEIS/EIS tax reliefs (note that it is unlikely that investors would want to relinquish their entitlements to such tax reliefs).

• What happens where the investee company goes insolvent and in those circumstances which party (if any) would be liable to pay off the Government’s matched funding? The good news is that this is high-risk capital, there is no guarantee in relation to the money and it is unsecured, meaning that (pre-conversion) the Government would sit alongside other unsecured creditors and behind parties which hold secured debt in the investee company (i.e. secured creditors) before receiving any of the matched funding (if any) back. Post-conversion, the Government would just be a shareholder of the investee company and would probably receive none of the matched funding back.

• Can you do multiple applications for different investors (i.e. can the same individual investor launch multiple applications in respect of different investee companies)? The answer is that the company can only have one application, whereas investors can have multiple applications. On this, the Government has said that if there is an investor which has a portfolio of businesses and decides to submit multiple applications under the Future Fund scheme in respect of the different investee companies, then if the Government is busy then they will prioritise the first application and the others will be further down the priority list (remembering that applications are processed on a first come, first served basis).

• Take the example where a founder of a company has previously invested £500k into a business. Under these circumstances, would the company be eligible under the scheme? The answer is unfortunately not – the company would not qualify in that case because the Government needs to receive evidence that the company has raised at least £250k worth of external investment (which is unconnected to the company’s founders, its employees and any family members) from third party investors.

• If you are part way through a funding round, can you qualify under the Future Fund scheme? If the funding round has closed and shares have been issued before 20 April, then the company will qualify. In theory, if you are part way through a funding round and have not yet issued shares to investors in respect of that round, then there is no reason why you couldn’t put those monies raised towards the Future Fund scheme. If investment/subscription agreements have already been signed by certain investors it would then be up to the company to agree with them to effectively terminate and void that agreement and put the investors’ capital towards the Future Fund scheme. If shares have already been issued, investment monies received and contractual documentation signed then that could be difficult to unwind.

• Can a founder of the investee company be an investor in the Future Fund? If the company has previously raised £250k worth of external investment and can provide evidence for that, then the view seems to be that a founder could then subsequently participate and invest in the Future Fund scheme (although note that companies which have been funded solely by founder capital in the past will not qualify under the scheme).

• Example: Business A has received SEIS/EIS qualifying investments, can Business A invest in Business B and qualify under the Future Fund scheme? Answer is that, from Future Fund’s perspective, there would be nothing to prevent Business A being an investor in Business B, however if it were to do this Business A would lose its SEIS/EIS eligibility (given that making investments in other companies is not a qualifying activity under the SEIS/EIS regimes).

Introduction to the Future Fund scheme

The Government’s Future Fund scheme opened to applications from 20 May 2020 onwards. This blog post gives you general information relating to the scheme, provides useful links to various associated sources and explores the implications of the scheme on the SEIS / EIS regimes.

On 20 April 2020, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced that UK businesses driving innovation and development will be helped through the Covid-19 outbreak with a £1.25 billion Government support package. The aforementioned financial assistance includes a £500 million loan scheme, called the Future Fund, for high-growth companies impacted by the crisis, made up of funding from both the Government and the private sector. This scheme will issue convertible loans to innovative companies facing financing difficulties due to the outbreak.

The Future Fund scheme is to be delivered in partnership with the British Business Bank (“BBB”), aimed at providing UK-based companies with between £125,000 and £5 million from the Government (note that the minimum aggregate loan amount is £250,000). Private investors are to at least match / equal the Government commitment.

The Government is committing an initial £250 million in funding towards the scheme (which will initially be open until the end of September 2020) and the scale of the fund is to be kept under review.

In order to be eligible for the scheme, each of the investor(s) and the company must meet specific criteria, which are detailed below under subheadings “Information for investors” and “Information for companies”.

Demand for the scheme has been extremely high, with applications for in excess of double the initial funding commitment of £250m being received on the first day alone.

Key features of the scheme

The scheme generally operates as follows:

• Step one: Investor applies – The investor, or lead investor of a group of investors, certifies they meet the scheme eligibility criteria and provides key investment details.
• Step two: Company confirms – The company confirms the accuracy of the investment application details provided, before submitting the final application.
• Step three: Contract is finalised – In the case of approved applications, all parties will execute an agreement (in the template form provided, which can be accessed here) and satisfy certain conditions set out in the agreement before the funds are released.

Investor-led process

The application is investor-led, which means that an investor, or lead investor of a group of investors, applies in connection with an eligible company (although note that companies are still able to register their interest).

Matched funding

The Future Fund will match up to 100% of the amount provided by investor(s), up to a maximum of £5 million.

Loan size

The Future Fund loan amount provided to the company ranges from £125,000 to £5 million. The amount of Future Fund loans must be at least matched by co-investment from investors.

Use of proceeds

Investors and companies should note that the proceeds of the convertible loan agreement cannot be used for any of the following purposes:

1. Repaying any borrowings from a shareholder or a shareholder related party (other than the repayment of any borrowings pursuant to any bank or venture debt facilities);
2. Paying any dividends or other distributions;
3. For a period of twelve months from the date of the relevant convertible loan agreement, making any bonus or other discretionary payment to any employee, consultant or director of the company other than as contracted prior to the date hereof and as paid by the company in the ordinary course of business; or
4. Paying any advisory or placement fees or bonuses to any corporate finance entity or investment bank or similar service provider on monies advanced by the Future Fund.

Interest rate

The loans will have a minimum of 8% per annum (non-compounding) interest charge applied. This interest will be higher if the company and the investor(s) agree between themselves. Unlike a typical bank loan, the interest is not payable on a monthly basis and instead will accrue until the loan converts. At this point, the interest will either be repaid or convert into equity.

Term

The loan will mature after 36 months. The loan cannot be repaid early by the company other than with the agreement of all of the investors.

Conversion

The loans will convert into shares in the company in certain circumstances, including an exit or a new funding round (please see clause 5 (“Conversion”) in the convertible loan agreement template for further information on the circumstances under which the loan will convert into shares).

Standardised terms

Investors and the Future Fund both invest using a convertible loan agreement, which is predefined and the terms of which are mostly non-negotible (a link to this agreement has been provided above). The only terms that are negotiable (between the investors (other than the Future Fund) and the investee company) are:

• Interest rate (although a minimum of 8% applies);
• Conversion discount rate (although a minimum of at least 20% applies);
• Headroom can be included for investments on the same terms which may be made within 90 days of the Future Fund scheme’s investment (such amounts will not be matched by the Future Fund); and
• A valuation cap whereby there is a ceiling valuation at which the loan notes will convert irrespective of the valuation of the next round / exit (no cap will apply if not populated).

The Future Fund retains its right to alter the application process, eligibility criteria and allocation criteria at any time, with details of any such changes posted on its website.

Information for investors

Investors are advised to read the Future Fund FAQs, which are fairly comprehensive and provide useful insights.

How to apply

1. Create account – The investor, or lead investor of a group of investors, must first create an account using the Future Fund Portal to be able to sign in and make applications.
2. Check eligibility – The investor, or lead investor of a group of investors, then provides information regarding the investment and confirms their eligibility.
3. Submit application – The investor, or lead investor of a group of investors, submits their application in connection with an eligible company, and the company (statutory director or the company secretary) then confirms it is happy for the application to be submitted.

Eligibility criteria

The investor(s) must fall within any of the following categories in order to be eligible under the Future Fund scheme:

• an “investment professional” within the meaning given to that term in article 19 of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (“FPO”);
• a high net worth company, unincorporated or associated or high value trust falling within article 49(2) of the FPO;
• a “certified sophisticated investor” or “self-certified sophisticated investor” within the meaning given in articles 50 and 50A respectively of the FPO;
• a “certified high net worth individual” within the meaning of article 48 of the FPO;
• an equivalent professional, high net worth, institutional or sophisticated investor in accordance with applicable law and regulation in such investor’s home jurisdiction;
• an association of high net worth or sophisticated investors within the meaning of article 51 of the FPO; or
• capable of being classified as a “professional client” within the meaning given in the glossary to the FCA’s handbook of rules and guidance.

Note that all other investors must fall within one of the above categories in order for them to be eligible to invest in the convertible loan agreement. It is the responsibility of other investors to ensure they are eligible.

Information investors will need to apply

Applicant’s personal information – information on the individual completing the application, including an upload of the individual’s photo identification (i.e. passport, driving licence or identity card).

Investor’s details – information on the investor making the match funding application.

Other investors’ details – information on all other investors who will be making up the match funding (only required for investor applying as a group).

Investment information – the full amount of proposed funding.

Company information and contact details – information on the company receiving the loan and contact details of a statutory director or the company secretary.

Any data and documents provided will be used for Know Your Customer (“KYC”) / Anti-money laundering (“AML”) and general fraud checks as part of the full application.

If providing information about other investors, data and documents provided by the lead investor relating to other investors may be used for Politically Exposed Person (PEP) and Sanctions screening.

Before completing an application, you are advised to ensure that all those on whom you will provide personal data as part of the application process (i.e. other investors, company statutory director or company secretary) have consented to you doing so, and that they are aware that it may be used for PEP and Sanctions screening and that they may be contacted by the BBB, using the information that you provide in order to progress the application.

Participating investors are advised to take independent legal advice (ILA) in order to understand the full implications of participating in the Future Fund scheme.

A director of the company will also be asked to provide a signed confirmation concerning certain facts about the company’s issued share capital and that it has the appropriate authorisations, waivers and approvals in place to fulfil its obligations in respect of the convertible loan agreements, including its ability to issue equity on conversion. The director and the company may wish to also take separate legal advice about this confirmation.

Note that there may also be tax implications for investors using the scheme, and so applicants should take appropriate financial advice.

During a recent webinar hosted by law firm Orrick, which has advised the Government on the terms of the Future Fund, partner Ylan Steiner highlighted the importance of ensuring the application is well drafted, by saying: “An early application which is clean and eligible will be processed quicker than a late one which is rejected and takes a while to get right”.

Information for companies

To be eligible for the scheme, the company must meet the following criteria:

• the company must have raised at least £250,000 in equity from third-party investors in previous funding rounds in the last five years (from 1 April 2015 to 19 April 2020, inclusive). It is extremely likely that the Government will seek to verify that the investee company has raised at least £250,000 previously. It is unclear how they’ll do this exactly, but one of the easiest ways is by reviewing Companies House filings. All they need to do is multiply the shares on every Form SH01 (‘Return of allotment of shares’) filed for each share by the stated price by share to see how much has been raised. Therefore, it is vital that the investee company ensures its Companies House filings are up to date ahead of submission of the application;
• if the company is a member of a corporate group, it must be the ultimate parent company;
• the company does not have any of its shares or other securities listed on a regulated market, a multilateral trading facility, a recognised investment exchange and / or any other similar market, stock exchange or listing venue;
• the company must be a UK incorporated limited company;
• the company must have been incorporated on or before 31 December 2019; and
• at least one of the following must be true for the company:
  • half or more of its employees are UK based; and / or
  • half or more of its revenues are attributable to UK sales.

Again, data and documents may be used for KYC / AML and general fraud checks as part of the full application.

Participating companies are advised to take legal advice in order to understand the full implications of participating in the Future Fund scheme. Participating companies will also be required to nominate a solicitor and confirm that the solicitor is prepared to act and is able to receive and hold client funds.

Companies may be contacted at any point during and / or after the application process for the purposes of evaluation.

As part of the application process, the BBB will collect information about the company, as the intended recipient of the convertible loan. The BBB will use the information it collects to ensure that it is allocating funds fairly through the Future Fund scheme. The BBB reserves the right to share all data for research purposes with other Government departments and agencies acting on its behalf.

Information for solicitors

The distribution of funds for successful applications will be handled through a nominated company solicitor. It is the company’s responsibility to appoint a solicitor with the necessary right to practice and handle client monies.

To be able to act for a client in respect of the Future Fund scheme, the solicitor must meet the following requirements:

• the solicitor must be a practising UK regulated solicitor – registered with the relevant UK regulatory body (i.e. The Solicitors Regulation Authority for England and Wales (SRA), The Law Society of Scotland (LSS) or The Law Society of Northern Ireland (LSNI). Information is also available from The Law Society of England & Wales (LSEW)); and
• if a client requires the solicitor to handle any completion monies, the solicitor must be permitted to hold client money and have a client account in accordance with the rules of the relevant UK regulatory body set out above.

For further information on the role of solicitors in the Future Fund, please click here.

Further useful information

The Future Fund FAQs on the BBB’s website (link provided above) confirms that applications will be considered on a “first come, first served” basis, with applications expected to take a minimum of 21 days from the initial application being submitted to funding being awarded (the length of time this takes in practice remains to be seen). The difference between application timelines will depend on a number of factors including the speed at which applicants are able to provide information and review documentation.

Once confirmation has been received that the application has been successful, it is our understanding that the company will then be invited to complete the details of the template scheme documentation (i.e. the convertible loan agreement, director’s certificate to be given by a director of the investee company and solicitor’s confirmation letter to be given by the investee company’s nominated solicitor).

Prior to issuing the director’s certificate the investee company will need to have obtained any consents and pre-emption waivers required in the usual way (in the form of board minutes, shareholder resolutions and investor consents if applicable).

Prior to issuing the solicitor’s confirmation letter, the investee company’s nominated solicitors will need to have been put in funds for the full amount of the matched funding. This will require the solicitors to conduct KYC / AML checks on the relevant parties and therefore they should be notified as soon as possible to be able to do this and prevent delays.

Once you have sent the Future Fund evidence to show that the solicitor’s bank account is in funds of the investors’ matched funding, provided that the Future Fund is content with the evidence provided, the Government will then wire their funds to the solicitor’s bank account, which the solicitor will then release to the investee company.

SEIS / EIS implications and review of the scheme

From reviewing the Future Fund FAQs, it is clear that the scheme’s impact on the SEIS / EIS regimes has been raised as an issue, and therefore the Government will be expected to publish guidance on this point in due course.

Below are some key points regarding how the Future Fund scheme will impact SEIS / EIS, as taken from the Future Fund FAQs:

• Q: Will the Convertible Loan Agreement (CLA) be SEIS or EIS eligible?
  • A: HM Treasury and HMRC are responsible for all decisions on tax reliefs, including on SEIS and EIS. It is our (i.e. BBB’s) understanding that the structure of the CLA does not meet existing rules for SEIS or EIS eligibility. Compatibility with tax schemes is a matter for HM Treasury and HMRC.
• Q: Will entering into the CLA affect the SEIS or EIS compatibility of investments made prior to the CLA?
  • A: HM Treasury and HMRC are responsible for all decisions on tax reliefs, including on SEIS and EIS. Compatibility of previous investments with the SEIS and EIS tax schemes is a matter for HM Treasury and HMRC. The Government has confirmed that such previous investments will not be affected where the convertible loan converts into shares. Where the convertible loan note redeems, we (i.e. the BBB) have been alerted that the Government intends to make changes to the rules to clarify that this is compatible with such previous investments.
• Q: Will entering into the CLA affect the SEIS or EIS compatibility of future investments?
  • A: HM Treasury and HMRC are responsible for all decisions on tax reliefs, including on SEIS and EIS.

In summary, as the scheme is structured as a convertible loan agreement, this means that it does not meet the current eligibility criteria for the SEIS / EIS reliefs, although (as stated above), the compatibility of previous SEIS and EIS investments should not be affected where the convertible loan converts into shares.

Criticism of the scheme so far has been rife, with the majority of commentators highlighting the way in which the scheme focuses very heavily on the VC portion of the investment sector, and most of all condemning the fact that the scheme is incompatible with SEIS and EIS.

According to data from research platform ProSapient and corporate financial advisor Adelpha, 56% of funding of UK start-ups comes from private individuals (i.e. angel investors, high net worth individuals, family offices and founders). A mere 17% of such funding is attributable to venture capital and private equity funds, and this noticeably smaller pool of investors will be better placed to co-invest under the Future Fund scheme, which has to be a major design flaw.

Research conducted by the BBB and UK Business Angels Association (“UKBAA”) suggests that 86% of angel investors use SEIS and EIS to support their investments. Without the benefit of the significant tax and loss reliefs that these schemes offer, the likelihood of angel investors being motivated to co-invest alongside the Government using this scheme is low.

One positive is that the Government has ensured that the scheme comes within the Temporary Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy in the Covid-19 outbreak, meaning that it did not need to obtain specific EU approval in order to launch the scheme. This means that the scheme is not notifiable State Aid and so doesn’t fall within the risk finance State Aid guidelines and count towards the annual or lifetime limits of a company.

One of the most significant flaws in the Future Fund scheme is that, if an SEIS / EIS investor chooses to (or is persuaded to) participate and invest via the scheme, once the loan has converted, that investor will not be entitled to make any further SEIS / EIS investments in the underlying investee company, and the investee company will lose that investor for future SEIS / EIS rounds.

As stated above, companies applying to the Future Fund scheme are required to have already raised £250,000 in equity from third-party investors in previous funding rounds in the last five years (from 1 April 2015 to 19 April 2020, inclusive). This benchmark is high and puts those start-ups that have struggled with access to funding at a significant disadvantage.

Finally, during a recent panel discussion hosted by Tech Nation, Francis Evans, head of business finance at the department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) opined on the scheme’s SEIS / EIS compatibility as follows: “Don’t expect the headline terms of the Future Fund to change”.

Links to Future Fund scheme documentation

• Directors certificate
• Solicitors confirmation letter

You may also wish to access BBB’s Website Terms and Conditions.

Finally, the British Business Bank’s glossary of terms, which sets out defined terms that are used in the Future Fund portal and the FAQ documents, can be found here.

How we can help you

We offer our clients a capped fixed fee of £1,500 plus VAT (£1,800) to provide our support so as to coordinate the parties, conduct all necessary KYC / AML checks, ensure that any relevant shareholder resolutions and board minutes are drafted and any necessary investor consents obtained, and to accept the investment monies from your investor(s) into our client account (as well as the matched funding from the Government) which we will then release to the company.

Please note that for new clients and fixed fee matters we require payment upfront. This helps us operate in an efficient manner and thus keep our pricing more competitive, as we benefit from increased cash flow and reduce the risk of time being incurred chasing invoices and / or non-payment.

The aforementioned fixed fee comprises a time cap of up to 10 hour of the team’s aggregated time (10 hours of our time in aggregate should be more than enough to carry out our scope of work in relation to these applications and get the monies released to the investee company). In the event that the work takes us more than 10 hours to complete, then we will need to charge for such further time (in addition to the fixed fee) in accordance with our hourly rates (further details as to our hourly rates can be provided should you decide to formally instruct us).

If you would like our assistance with making an application pursuant to the Future Fund scheme, please send an email to wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net in the first instance, following which someone will liaise to fix a mutually convenient time for a no cost, no obligation introductory call between you and one of our fee earners.

This article is intended for general information only, applies to the law at the time of publication, is not specific to the facts of your case and is not intended to be a replacement for legal advice. It is recommended that specific professional advice is sought before relying on any of the information given. © Jonathan Lea Limited 2023.