Investors swarm as bee-keeping firm secures £175k

ECO-FRIENDLY beehive firm Plan Bee has secured funding of £175,000 in what has been deemed one of Scotland’s most successful crowdfunding campaigns

Warren Bader with Harper Macleods Paula Skinner, Jo Nisbet and Gail Weir. Picture: Ross Gilmore

The news comes as the Motherwell-based company, advised by the law firm Harper Macleod, was named Small Business of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards on Wednesday.

Plan Bee was set up by Warren Bader in 2011 to tackle falling honeybee numbers, and lets people pay for a managed beehive.

The latest funding comprises £105,500 from 177 investors on the Crowdcube platform, plus £35,000 each from Glasgow-based business syndicate Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Investment Bank and brings its total funding since last year to more than £300,000.

Harper Macleod is also legal adviser to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.