Crowdfund to raise £2.8m for Birmingham data centre
Wed 31 May 2017
Crowdfunding firm Downing Crowd has launched a new investment deal for a data centre facility in central Birmingham as it seeks to build its focus in the data centre market.
The crowd bond platform has funnelled £2.8 million into the GTP3 LLP project which will see the development of a data centre campus comprising three buildings. The centre, which promises to strengthen Birmingham’s position as the UK’s second-largest digital hub, has already received a small loan from the local city council.
Bonds secured against the new project are projected to yield up to 5.25% per year, over a two-year term, for Downing Crowd investors. The P2P firm added that the bonds would carry a maximum estimated loan-to-value ratio of around 17%.
“Investing in Crowd Bonds can be a great way to see your money go into new businesses that will have a direct impact on your local economy, just like we’re seeing with data centres,” said Julia Groves, head of crowdfunding at Downing Crowd.
The new GTP3 LLP Bond marks a significant push from the crowd bond platform to invest in data centre projects, which it believes acts in line with the UK government’s plans for a digital economy supported by smart infrastructure.
Downing Crowd has already committed an additional £21 million of funds to further projects in the data centre arena. These investments follow the £33 million crowdfund in support of the KAO data centre in Harlow.
“Data centres are becoming an increasingly large part of the UK’s future infrastructure. And the demand for data centres clearly isn’t just in the busy South East either, with Birmingham representing one of many areas that are currently underserved when it comes to this type of facility,” commented Peter Beckwith, a founding member of GTP3 LLP.
The new Birmingham facility is expected to be well-connected with high levels of fibre connectivity and power grid availability.
