British taxpayers are now shareholders in 65 other companies due to a government bailout financing scheme set up during the Covid crisis, including a medical cannabis company, a video game studio and a chain of bars offering activities such as table tennis. .
A list published by the government development bank reveals an eclectic range of companies that have received convertible loans as part of the Future Fund.
The cash pot was created by former Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak with the aim of supporting start-ups struggling to attract investment during the depths of the pandemic and has supported 1,190 companies with funds worth $1.14 billion. sterling pounds.
The latest data, released by the British Business Bank (BBB), reveals holdings in companies including video game studio Just Won’t Die, kombucha maker Flower of Life, and Lightpoint Medical, which develops robotic technology for cancer surgery. . Taxpayers also own a portion of State of Play Hospitality, which runs activity bar brands such as Bounce, Flight Club and Puttshack, which offer table tennis, darts and miniature golf, respectively.
The state also has shares in Avida Global Limited, a producer of medical cannabis oils, chaired by Benjamin Mancroft, who entered the House of Lords in February 1988, and once made headlines for controversial comments he made about nurses. from the NHS who were treating him. at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
The firm opened in 2018 and grows the plant from a farm in Colombia. Medical cannabis became legal in the UK in November 2018, but doctors only prescribe it to “very few” people, according to the NHS website.
About a third of the companies that have received support from the Future Fund have converted their loans into shares after they raised private funds that at least matched those from the government. This means that the taxpayer now has an equity interest in more than 400 companies.
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Previous data releases from the BBB have revealed that these companies include sex party planner company Killing Kittens, coffee chain Black Sheep and Bolton Wanderers football club. The taxpayers also own shares in another Kombucha maker, Better Tasting Drinks Co Limited, and another cannabis-related company, cannabidiol product producer Grass & Co.
Ken Cooper, managing director of BBB, said: “The Future Fund was created to ensure a flow of capital, at the height of the pandemic, to companies that would not otherwise have been able to access government support schemes, by time that guarantees a long term. term value to the UK taxpayer.
“We are pleased to see so many of those companies now raising more capital from the private sector, which will allow Future Fund to benefit from their continued growth.”
www.theguardian.com
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