Blue Horizons Storage Pods

Lisylou12

Not sure if I should be writing on this forum. My Uncle has invested a large sum of money with this company and the rate of return is set to be around 6% - 8%. However, my cousins are concerned as are the rest of the family as we can't find out anything about this company. Does anyone know anything about this company and their credentials, my uncle has said that the rate of return is bigger than anything else around. However, it's the lack of info about the company apart from their website that is disconcerting us. Just to know its an actual investment scheme would be huge peace of mind

jimjames

Would this be the one?

http://www.blueh.co.uk/storage-pods/

Was your uncle cold called by these people or find them some other way? What sort of investment has been made?

The immediate red flag to me is that their website also promotes carbon credits which are routinely used as scams.

Key facts:

250 year lease
6 year agreement for rental
8% guaranteed return
£60k average investment

So after 2 years your income could drop. After 6 years you could be left with a worthless pod and no income.

Is there any secondary market once you have bought it?

jamesd

The rate of return is not bigger than anything else around. Either within or outside an ISA there are plenty of funds that will pay that sort of level in either income or combined income and capital growth prospects.

6-8% for a highly speculative investment is not a good deal. Even less so if it's for a large part of his assets. Less than 5% for any speculative scheme, better less, is the maximum that is appropriate.

The only real guarantee is the two years at 8%. There's no undertaking at all that there will be any rental income after that and it's easy to fund the 8% out of the purchase price.

Before investing in something like this it's necessary to check that the underlying rental business has high occupancy rates, at a minimum. It's also worth phoning a couple of major SIPP providers and asking if the claim that all the major SIPP providers accept this is true. It won't be, if only because many of them don't accept commercial property investments.

Ark_Welder

A set of observations rather than anything specific.

Which solicitor did your uncle use when completing the contract?

The company registered address is a virtual office and the trading address is a serviced office.

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/07732231/BLUE-HORIZONS-TRADING-LTD#people-tab

One of the directors was also a director of a company called Rupert Saxon-Lord Ltd. Haven't read all of the following, but the 'Findings of Fact and Law' starting a section 106 should be read in conjunction to the Allegations section at the start:

http://www.solicitorstribunal.org.uk/Content/documents/Baptist,%20Benz,%20Taylor%20&%20Wild%2010494.10.pdf


Bluehorizons look like they are a selling agent for a company called Store First Ltd, or it might be Store First Management Ltd.

From the Store First web-site:

1) From Purchase Process:

Solicitors

Store First’s preferred solicitor is [name omitted]. They have completed many sales of Storepods and as they are familiar with the product they are quick and efficient. The charge is £[omitted] per contract (note that multiple Storepods can be purchased on one contract, so this represents excellent value).

[contact details omitted]

Personal cash investors can use a solicitor if they wish too, but this is not compulsory. Using a solicitor is compulsory for SIPP investors

2) From Exit Strategies:

In year 5, Investors have the option to enter the buy-back scheme. In this scheme, Store First Management Ltd will buy the Storepod back off the investor for the original price paid within the next 5 years.

My italics, and my interpretation is that it could take up to 5 years for them to repurchase the unit if this is the chosen exit strategy.

3) From Invest:

Summary terms of agreement:

• Store First pay investors a fixed rental return of 8% for the first two years
• After two years, and every subsequent two years, Store First offer investors a further two years at a fixed rate
• The new rate offered will be higher than the previous rate

Points to note

• Investors can accept the two year extension at the new fixed rate, or choose to exit the lease and opt for a variable rate of return instead
• If investors choose to exit the lease, Store First will continue to market & let their Storepod on rotation with the other Storepods and service the tenants. Investors are just opting for a variable rate of return based on rental yield, rather than a fixed rate of return offered by Store First.
• Store First also has the option to break the lease every two years.

It says what happens if the investor chooses to break the lease, but not what happens if Store First chooses to do so.


I note the two guys at Bluehorizons are described as city professionals, and not City professionals. Are the two guys on the UK web-site the same as the two guys on the USA web-site? Might be my eyes, but the spiel is more or less the same,

BR54

Take a look at this link.
https://www.duedil.com/director/9165.../directorships
Toby Whittaker has been a director of over 50 companies with the majority closing down after 2-4 yrs. The ones that are still active have a book value of over minus-£20million. That means the difference between assets and liabilities. They are collectively £21 million pounds in the red. Another 3 or 4 of his companies are about to go under as well as they have had a proposal to strike off this month.

One of his companies went under owing £100 million pounds and Pannones solicitors were starting a law suit against them.
He was investigated by the HMRC last year and another company was investigated by the FSA.
Most of his companies have only lasted between 1- 3 years before going under.

Good_Goose

About as high a risk investment there is. I would want 30% a year minimum (not that I would touch it with a bargepole!!)