Downing Crowd to raise £3m for care home development

The crowdfunding platform is part of London-based investment manager Downing LLP, which invests in a range of UK business sectors, including healthcare.

Downing Crowd uses bonds to invest in established UK businesses, which have previously come through one of Downing’s previous investments, and, therefore, Crowd Bonds was the next logical step for funding.

The Manor Grange care home asset-backed Crowd Bonds allow investors to earn up to 5.5% over 12 months and have already raised just under £1m of its £3m fundraising target.

Downing has been working with Care Concern Group for over four years with Downing providing over £30m of investment into the latter’s projects.

“Over a million people have now invested through a crowdfunding platform but, despite this popularity, the different kinds of crowdfunding tend to all get labelled as ‘extremely risky’,” said Julia Groves, head of crowdfunding at Downing LLP.

“In fact, Crowd Bonds are a simple type of investment and, provided investors fully understand the relevant risks, they can offer attractive returns in the current climate of low interest rates and rising inflation.”

Julia added that at Downing Crowd, it only invested in established UK businesses, which made its Crowd Bonds a great way for investors’ money to have an impact in their local area.

“Manor Grange is the first of what we hope will be many opportunities in the residential care sector for Downing Crowd, as we see a lot of potential here to help encourage greater quality care for the elderly.

“The Scottish market in general also holds exciting prospects for us too, with our Crowd Bond investors having just recently provided £1.25m funding for a newly opened hydro power station in Argyll.”

Manpreet Johal, CEO of Care Concern Group, added that finding more traditional forms of funding was still a challenge for many businesses in the care sector.

“We pride ourselves on providing the best possible care facilities and comfortable surroundings for our residents and thanks to the support of crowdfunding investors we are confident that Manor Grange will be able to deliver this high standard of service.

“With our doors now open, we are looking forward to becoming an important part in the local Corstorphine [a village to the west of Edinburgh] community.”