Braveheart in £2.7m drive to build electric car recharging network

Some £2.7 million was raised from “high-net worth individuals” and other clients of Envestors, the Scottish company’s London-based subsidiary. The money will be pumped into Chargemaster, which is installing its charging equipment in the south of England but plans to target 100 towns and cities over the next 12 months. Scott Haughton, a director of Envestors, said: “In a tough market for growing companies, members of our network were impressed by the Chargemaster team’s experience and the progress made from a standing start.”

In December, Envestors led an £1.5m equity financing for Chargemaster, which produces single, dual and fast charging posts, as well as equipment for use at motorists’ homes.

Braveheart, led by chief executive Geoffrey Thomson, took over corporate finance advisory firm Envestors in August 2010 in a deal worth about £2.5m.

To an extent, the deal brought Braveheart back to its roots – it was established in Perth in 1997 as an informal investment syndicate. Since then, it has evolved into an investment management company, with a heavy emphasis on building custom portfolios and funds for high net worth individuals.

In July, house broker Seymour Pierce said Braveheart was on course to pay its maiden dividend next year.

A payout of possibly 1p a share is likely if Braveheart sells stakes in some of its portfolio of companies.

The broker also expects the firm to post a “modest” profit of £311,000, its first since it joined the Alternative Investment Market in 2007.

While Thomson hasn’t revealed which stakes he is looking to sell, he has said Braveheart “has a number of balls up in the air”, but the timing of any possible sales was still unclear.

Earlier this month, Envestors pumped £1m into the company that produces the children’s television programme Olly the Little White Van.

In May, it led a £1.4m funding round for Surface Generation, which makes components for the aerospace and car industries.