New Sports Car Wins Investment

FBS Engineering Ltd (http://www.fbs-eng.co.uk ) has completed a quarter of a million pound investment deal which will enable it to put the innovative FBS1 sports car into production. The deal with two Business Angels involves a combination of equity investment and unsecured loans. It has taken seven months from a first meeting at an Equity Link Investors’ Fair (http://www.equitylink.co.uk ) to the completion of the deal. During that time, the founders of FBS Engineering Ltd have also completed and exhibited the prototype car (picture above) while working in senior positions on the new MINI for BMW – Rover group.

Andrew Barber said "This investment will enable us to take the car from prototype to production. Over the next year, we will complete the detailed engineering design and testing; build a second car; rent premises; set up tooling for the chassis and recruit staff. This is a great day for us, we have always known we would get here. Now it has happened and we are trying hard to keep our feet on the ground"

Robin Hall described some of the sacrifices the project has required "In my late twenties, I had a profitable car repair and restoration business but, realising I needed an engineering degree to be a successful sports car designer, I wound it up and we spent three years struggling on my wife’s salary as a junior teacher. More recently, we have spent so many late nights working on the prototype that Andrew’s two year old son told people that I lived with them".