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TO £5M PLEDGED TO BE RAISED BY NEW ETHICAL SCHEME |
03/02/04 |
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A
major public share issue launched by Triodos Bank aims to become the most
high profile ethical investment opportunity of recent years.
Developed with Cafédirect, the UK’s largest Fairtrade hot drinks company,
the scheme hopes to raise £5m to support significant business growth in
the corporate, as well as offering investors a real stake in the ethical
trader.
Penny Newman, Cafédirect’s chief executive, comments, “Now you can do more
than buy the coffee, you can buy into Cafédirect itself. With an investment
as little as £300, you can help us shape a better future for millions of
people – those who grow the products as well as those who drink them.
"As more and more people discover the benefits of ethically sourced
products, the time has come to realise the full potential of our 100% Fairtrade
brands.”
Triodos Bank managing director Charles Middleton says: "Ethical investment
is an exciting and rapidly growing area, and Cafédirect’s share issue could
be the highest profile offer of this kind to date.
"Across the UK, people have already invested millions of pounds in
companies delivering clear social as well as financial returns. Investors’
expectations are changing. Increasingly, they choose to take control of
their finances to do something positive with them.
"They want their money to benefit them and bring genuine, tangible
positive change. Investing in Cafédirect has the potential to do just that.”
Research shows the growth of ethical investment has soared in the last five
years. EIRIS (Ethical Investment Research Service) estimates the size of
ethically screened funds in the UK stood at £4bn in 2001, compared to £1.5bn
in 1997.
Around 500,000 private individuals have already made ethical investments,
compared to 137,000 just five years ago.
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