Hidden Treasure – An Angel Investment Case Study
The thrill of discovering buried treasure is just a long forgotten childhood dream for most of us – think of Indiana Jones! Well, that dream has just become reality for Historic Wreck Recovery Ltd, thanks to some nifty funding which came about literally within days of a meeting with Angels Den – the number one company for getting businesses funded.
Having secured funding in two stages so far through Angels Den, Historic Wreck Recovery Ltd are on the verge of recovering up to £35 million of historically important artefacts from the Royal James, a 17th century warship wreck. The founding partners, George Spence and Duncan Coles, located the wreck in September 2006, and immediately set up the business to bring the treasure back to the surface.
They are perfectly positioned for this, with over 40 years experience between them in shipwreck recovery, having been involved in the recovery of gold, silver and other artefacts from wreck sites across the globe, as well as being qualified divers. With the backing of Angels Den, who introduced them to various Business Angels for the much needed investment to bring this project to life, they well are on the path to succeed. In fact, from posting their business plan onto the Angels Den system, the cash was in the bank within just 5 short weeks. Naturally, they came back to Angels Den for the second round of funding.
The Royal James was the flagship of the blue squadron and was sunk by the Dutch in 1672, off the UK coast. The massive first rate man-of-war was over 40 meters long and was lost together with her contents. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is the flagship that engaged with the Dutch fleet on the morning of 28 May 1672,” said George Spence. “After a day of heavy bombardment and hand-to-hand fighting, this spectacular warship was burnt to the waterline and was lost together with her contents of unique cannon, priceless silver plate and specie along with the pay chest for the squadron”.
Locating the ship has taken many years and now the company’s divers have established the layout of the site, they are ready to begin its historic recovery and make naval history in the process. Many artefacts from the wreck including ships timbers, ironwork, cannon balls and a number of human bones have already been recovered from the site and are undergoing emergency conservation in Historic Wreck Recovery’s laboratory in Lowestoft.
Historic Wreck Recovery secured its first tranche of funding from Angels Den in 2007 and this enabled the company to remove about two metres depth of sea bed from the wreck site. Angels Den was recommended to Historic Wreck Recovery by a friend and only months after posting their business plan on the site their first Angel investor was found.
“When we first started we were able to operate with funding from our own money and from private individuals purchasing shares but it soon became apparent that we would need a substantial amount of professional investment and that’s where Angels Den came in,” explained Duncan Coles.
“The first investor did not want to be involved in the day-to-day operation of the business but rather has been there if we needed an additional sounding board,” said Duncan. “Our most recent investor may take a more active role as he has an interest in diving and shipwreck recovery.”
The company’s most recent investment, received in March 2009, will bring some of the bronze cannon to the surface.
The artefacts from the Royal James are of great historical importance and Historic Wreck Recovery estimates that they could be worth between £18 million and £35 million, with the largest value likely to be the 106 matched bronze cannon. An individual cannon could fetch up to £45,000 (£4.8 million in total) and kept together as a unique royal collection could probably fetch around £9.5 million in total.
The Earl of Sandwich also lost silver ornaments, jewellery and other goods worth over £4,000 which, in today’s money, are estimated to be worth between half a million and one million pounds. Other artefacts recovered, such as the ship’s bell, will also have an enhanced value due to the historic interest. For example it is expected that there will be considerable interest in the personal effects of Officers, including Captain Haddock, a seasoned Officer.
The recovery of the Royal James is estimated to take between two and four years to complete due to its position in the North Sea. The company has leased the ideal ship for the salvage job, together with large lifting equipment, and is now waiting for a period of fine weather to begin the delicate operation.
Duncan and George have also located a further 14 wrecks, most of which have been surveyed ready for recovery, and are looking to fund this next stage of activity as soon as possible – again with the help of Angels Den, who can introduce them to Europe’s largest network of Business Angels.
