Entrepreneur's new firm raises £1m overnight
A new force in the UK’s drive to a low-carbon future is emerging in Gloucestershire. From scratch to multi-million turnover in 18 months, plus £1m of investment overnight. Bob Holt is at it again.
Dear readers,
Welcome to the third edition of The Raikes Journal of the week. My apologies for the late delivery. We usually send this edition on a Friday.
Today we lead with a piece on a firm that released two very exciting announcements this week, not least that it raised a cool £1 million for growth almost overnight.
But put that together with who is at the helm of the business, and his track record, and the prospect looks even more exciting.
Which is why our standfirst talks about a new force emerging in Britain’s drive towards a low-carbon future.
We could just as reasonably have asked ‘are we seeing the birth of a business that will in the near future challenge for a spot in Gloucestershire’s Top 100 Businesses?’, the list of firms with the biggest turnovers in the county that we track here at Raikes.
Time will tell, but the businessman leading the emerging company has form has been there and done it before, and he certainly seems to have the backing of investors too.
When it comes to ones to watch, this business should be on your list.
Have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Andrew Merrell (editor).
Briefing notes…
💷💷💷 The billionaire Pears family has invested in Cheltenham. According to Completely Retail News the company Pears Property, which acts on behalf of the family - one of the biggest property investment firms in the UK - has bought the Gateway Retail Park on Tewkesbury Road. The news website says the detail was “for a total consideration of £8,860,000, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.4 per cent”. Tenants at the park, off the A4019, include M&S, Next, Sainsbury's, Dunelm and B&M.
🏗️ As Gloucester City Council sought to explain just what was happening with the sale and redevelopment of one of the landmark dockside warehouses, a whisper emerges it could become new student accommodation. Council chiefs have been in the process of selling their former offices at Herbert, Kimberley and Philpotts since 2003, when the sale was first approved. We now know that nothing has moved on because of delays in the planning system and why it probably won’t become a hotel anymore. More here.
🗳️ More nominations than ever before came in for this year’s Believe in Gloucester Awards, giving the judges picking the short list something to think about. Now’s your chance to vote. From small independent businesses to community champions, the awards aim to showcase the very best of the city and are backed once again by headline sponsors WSP Solicitors and Gloucester Quays. The event, which is organised by Gloucester BID, which represents the city’s business improvement district, celebrates the businesses, people and organisations that make the city special. You can see all the nominations and find the link to vote here.
Things to do this weekend…
Saturday:
👏🏽 Gloucester History Festival runs from today until Sunday 21. Frank Skinner, Alice Roberts, Celia Imrie, Alan Johnson, Lyse Doucet, David Olusoga, Olivette Otele, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Heseltine, Greg Jenner, Vince Cable and Peter Frankopan are just some of Britain’s top historians, actors, broadcasters and authors at this year’s festival. More here.
🥳 Gloucestershire Pride at Gloucester Park. Described as “a spectacular line-up of talent” on the main stage and cabaret stage, plus community zones, inspiring talks, community meet-ups, and more. From noon to 7.30pm. Pride march from 11:15 - 12:30 from Gloucester Cathedral.
🎶 Dance music icons Artful Dodger, supported by Chaka, play The Sub Rooms, Stroud, this evening from 7.30pm. More here.
Sunday:
🏡 Open house and gardens at Westonbirt House. A guided tour of the Grade 1-listed home of the Holford family and its stunning gardens. From 10.30am to 4.30pm. More here.
🚜🐴🐶 Frampton Country Fair - “the UK’s best county fair” - at Frampton on Severn. Held in 30 acres of beautiful parkland of Frampton Court Estate, this is one of the last truly traditional country fairs. More here.
🌳👣 If you have children and like reading good books to them, chances are you’re familiar with Stick Man, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Enjoy the last day of Westonbirt Arboretum's Stick Man trail. An interactive family experience. More here.
* The Raikes Journal is a digital magazine and community interest company whose supporters believe, like us, that journalism about Gloucestershire is worth keeping alive. Everything you read here - original stories about our county - is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors, Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We’re dedicated to championing the county, its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to creating an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you’ll be able to see past the paywalls often put on our 2cnd and 3rd email editions of the week, that lock our archive after two weeks and our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You’ll be able to comment on our stories too.
Usually you can sign up for just £2.30 a week - or £1.80 a week if two or more people sign up at once. Or go all in and become one of our Founding Partners or Founding Members!
But we’re currently running this offer to make it even cheaper (just £1.60 a week for a year!!).
For every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.
Entrepreneur's new firm raises £1m overnight
A new force in the UK’s drive to a low-carbon future is emerging in Gloucestershire. From scratch to multi-million turnover in 18 months, plus £1m of investment overnight. Bob Holt is at it again.
There was a brilliant window into how to drive growth and build a publically listed company this week as the latest business plugging into the expertise of Bob Holt OBE released its trading result for the first six months of 2025.
And in some style, hot on the heels of those unaudited interim results to 30 June 2025, the business was releasing more news - demonstrating the belief some very shrewd people have in its ambition.
That being news of the £1 million extra into its coffers courtesy of a successful share placement, proving investors are ready to back what the Gloucestershire-based businessman and the team from EARNZ plc are up to.
Holt became a legend in the City and beyond after creating the giant Gloucestershire-headquartered housing services business Mears, growing it from a modest business to a firm which today has a turnover of £1.13 billion and an order book of £3 billion.
That, and other success stories, mean his abilities have remained in-demand and his name also brings a key element growing listed businesses need to project to investors - confidence that a safe pair of hands is at the tiller.
And those hands are currently on steering EARNS Plc. The firm has the same address, St James House, St James Square, Cheltenham, as one of Holt’s long-standing collaborators, BPE Solicitors.
It was back in March last year when it was announced that Holt had raised £4 million through the then little-known EARNZ, which had relisted on AIM as a shell company with the declared ambition of seeking to invest in companies in energy services and net zero sectors.
The highly respected businessman had until then been working with a number of other businesses, including Cheltenham-based Logical Utilities, Bristol-based Cosgrove & Drew Engineering Services, Totally plc and Revolution Beauty.
Cosgrove & Drew has since become part of EARNZ plc and more are expected to follow after the successful £1 million fund-raising, with the firm’s website describing “a proven buy-and-build strategy”.
But back to the accounts for the six months to 30 June 2025. On Thursday this week Holt was pleased enough with the numbers to take to social media channel LinkedIn with a short post direct people towards the news.
The headline elements of which were that the EBITDA (which is said to provide a clearer view of a company’s core operational profitability) was ahead of management forecasts and that the acquisition of A&D Carbon Solutions Limited (A&D) on 1 July 2025 and the agreement of a HSBC Loan of £0.5m to support acquisitions secured.
Holt, who lives in Tetbury, said: “I am delighted with the performance of the business and the delivery of positive adjusted EBITDA ahead of target.
“We move into the second half of the year with confidence in the performances of our subsidiaries and with an exciting pipeline of potential further acquisitions. Our plans for the Group remain ambitious.”
Turnover for those six months was £4.7 million, with adjusted EBITDA of £0.1m.
As an example of the kind of firm the Cheltenham business is buying, A&S Carbon Solutions, the Swansea-based business EARNZ bought in July, is described as ‘one-stop shop’ for installation services under the decarbonisation agenda, across the UK, with a particular focus in Wales.
It mainly works on residential properties whose owners are looking to improve their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating, fitting internal wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, air source heat pumps and solar panels.
As for news of the £1 million share placing that EARNZ released the day following the following statement to the City, Holt said the firm was “delighted to see another great financial commitment from our major shareholders”.
“The funds raised are to complete the setting up of two trading subsidiaries one in the Midlands and one in Yorkshire,” he added.
“The uncertainty around ECO4 (a UK government scheme requiring energy companies to deliver energy-saving upgrades for homes) funding from the energy sector has created opportunities to invest in management teams who enjoyed success previously.
“We are excited at the prospect these teams bring into the group.”
In his statement accompanying the six-monthly accounts, Holt signed off with this front-foot message: “The outlook for the twelve months is encouraging and will include the full-year trading performance of the businesses acquired in our previous trading year and six months trading from our recent acquisition.
“The success of the group would not be possible without the commitment of all our stakeholders. We are a small team, committed to providing shareholder returns and relying on the commitment and dedication of our employees.
“My special thanks go to our shareholders who have shown great commitment to the management team.
“We anticipate forthcoming news as we continue to pursue opportunities.”
EARNZ’s website makes no secret of its plans for its future either.
“We acquire and grow leading businesses focused on achieving net zero and decarbonisation,” said earnzplc.com.
“How do we do it?” asks the next page.
Answering itself it added ‘we have a seasoned management team led by chairman Bob Holt’.