Well ...
'That's a strange name, boss.' It certainly is, my little invisible friend.
Anyway, PR email ...
£1 billion hydrogen investment fund launched by JCB scion Jo Bamford.
Morning Michael, nothing like starting the week with a bang, so thought you'd be interested in some big news on the hydrogen front from green entrepreneur Jo Bamford.
Er, yeah ... this was from yesterday. But now I'm awake. Now I'm ready to start the week. Ha, ha, ha! Uh.
Anyway ...
Some more information below but Jo is available at various points today/tomorrow if you want to speak with him.
Er, no. I don't want to speak to a scion. That's too much for me.
But let's do this!
Green entrepreneur Jo Bamford has joined forces with multi-family office Vedra Partners to launch HYCAP, a hydrogen investment fund which has set its sights on raising £1bn.
The capital, which already stands at more than £200m after the first round of investment, will be injected largely into UK businesses, with the focus on speeding-up green hydrogen production and supply, creating jobs and contributing to the Government's Net Zero targets.
With the UK hosting COP26 in Glasgow later this year, Mr Bamford said there was no time to wait in order to harness the appetite of sustainably focused investors.
'What's COP26, boss?' Ha! What's COP26? It's a party for twenty-six police officers in Glasgow. 'But why?!' I don't know, Voice. Don't ask me.
He believed the UK hydrogen sector would need a £1bn injection to help it compete with other territories.
Oh, we're still doing this.
Anyway, let him explain -
"With the Government's relentless pursuit of Net Zero targets and the publication of the damning IPCC report, it is our belief that hydrogen holds the key to reducing emissions - and there is a growing sense of urgency to act now," he explains.
"The UK has missed the boat on batteries, a sector dominated by China and the Far East, but we can be global leaders in the production and supply of hydrogen - an economy said to be worth $2.5 trillion in revenues by 2050."
Right.
Mr Bamford said his team had already identified more than 40 firms in the hydrogen space which will be evaluated for investment.
Oh. His team. 'Will he be doing any work himself, like?' I really don't know.
"We have also discovered that investors around the world match the ambitions of global governments in wanting green-focused funds which have a positive impact on climate change," he adds.
Okay.
Mr Bamford said there were a number of key drivers for the renewed interest in hydrogen: 70% of global GDP is linked to hydrogen country roadmaps; membership of the Hydrogen Council has increased almost five-fold since 2017, and the UK Government has pledged to have 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030.
Okay. 'Are we still doing this?' Yeah.
The HYCAP founding team brings together significant hydrogen, manufacturing, financing and fund management expertise, with industry hires collectively having had working knowledge of more than 150 utility-scale renewables projects in more than 12 countries.
Right.
Vedra Partners' founder Max Gottschalk, who took the Gottex managed funds from $3million of seed capital in 1999 to a $16 billion success story eight years later, said there had already been a great deal of interest.
Fine.
"The fund will be investing across the entire value chain, focusing on production, manufacture and supply, in order to put the UK firmly on the map when it comes to hydrogen," Mr Gottschalk says.
Well, all right. 'Can we talk about music, boss?' Not yet.
"By striking meaningful commercial partnerships and developing intelligent go-to-market strategies it is clear HyCap's maiden fund can add strategic, operational and financial value to the ecosystem while creating entrepreneurial growth businesses."
WHO SAID THAT - ?!?!?!
Oh, that's it! I've had enough. Obviously, I wish this scion the best of luck with it all. It would be churlish not to.
ENDS
ENDS
ENDS
...
Anything else? Music?
I ain't got much to say. I'm just rehearsing, man, that's all.
The "rough" recording of Mighty Soul is almost good enough to use for the demo. Almost. Never mind.
I enjoy listening to it though. It takes my mind off my troubles, you dig?
Laters.
