Leading golf travel company, Golfbreaks.com, has announced an impressive response to the launch of its Golfbreaks Bond, with more than £1m having been raised by the funding scheme in the first three weeks.
The Windsor-based company, which has a turnover of almost £35m and employs 140 staff, is offering a ‘golfing bond’ to potential investors with a target of raising £2m. The funds will be used to accelerate ambitious growth plans, including investment in new technology to enable more online bookings and the expansion of the company’s burgeoning American operation.
The Bond – which closes on 30th June – invites customers to invest between £2,000 and £100,000 for a gross annual return of 7.5%, paid in cash, or 10% payable in the company’s loyalty Breakpoints.
These loyalty points could be spent on golf breaks or holidays at any of the company’s 2,000 worldwide venues – including this week’s US Open host, Pinehurst – or even trips to iconic tournaments such as the Ryder Cup or the Masters.
“Businesses looking to fund expansion have the option to borrow from a bank or sell a stake to private equity, but we felt it important to maintain control while also engaging our loyal customers in the continuing growth of the business,” said Golfbreaks.com Chief Executive, Andrew Stanley.
“Having opened our first office in America in the past year, we are looking to make significant gains in the world’s largest golf market and the mini-bond is the ideal solution to fund our growth drive. The response has been extremely positive and it is pleasing to see so many of our customers taking up the opportunity to invest.”
The company was advised on the Bond by Grant Thornton and leading law firm, Memery Crystal. David Walker, a corporate partner at Memery Crystal, confirmed that the funding initiative taken by Golfbreaks.com is one that an increasing number of innovative companies are exploring.
“There appears to have been a growing interest in mini-bonds; particularly over the last 12 months,” Walker commented. “We currently have a number of instructions in relation to mini-bonds and are receiving a significant number of serious enquiries from interested companies.”
“Mini-bonds are a relatively fast and cost-effective way of raising funds which has been proven to be successful by the likes of The Jockey Club, Hotel Chocolat and, currently, Golfbreaks.com.”
Golfbreaks.com was started by Andrew Stanley in 1998 with the objective of saving golfers time and money by organising their golf trips away. Golfbreaks.com also runs the UK’s leading online tee-time booking service, Teeofftimes.co.uk – which last year sold more than 300,000 rounds of golf – and recently branched out into spa days and breaks with the launch of BookaSpa.com.
Full details of the bond are contained here: bond.golfbreaks.com