Fred Dibnah Shares

Ryan101

I was wondering if someone could quickly have a look at this and tell me what they think, I was thinking of investing £250.

http://www.freddibnahheritagecentre.com

The information about the shares is on this page.

Masomnia

I think it's a really nice idea. I wouldn't necessarily consider it as part of a serious portfolio, though. 3% return for the risk just isn't worth it.

If I was enthusiastic about the project I'd put a bit in, but I wouldn't do it with the expectation of getting much back.

jimjames

It might be a good way of supporting the cause but there seems to be no mention of the shares being traded in any way.

So you may be able to invest and get an income of 3% but not able to sell them again.

It also seems a bit odd that a share offer is being handled on a live.com email address.

vectistim

I wouldn't call this investing, from what it says it looks like you're essentially buying a life membership to a 'Friends of' scheme (or at least that's the closest comparison). So the question is whether that's something you'd want to do.

Did you like that?

vectistim

(OK, I missed the dividend bit, but even so it's not something to do for the money)

Linton

As long as you see it as a bit of fun and helping a cause to which you are sympathetic why not. It doesnt look like a scam! As a serious investment I think the return is too small for the risk which must be fairly high, but I dont suppose you are thinking of investing to fund your retirement or build up a house deposit.

Glen_Clark

I wouldn't touch this. I am a great fan of Fred Dibnah's TV programmes, but he has gone together with most of the original stuff at his home. Under the influence of bags of Guinness brought into Bolton Hospice by other members of his family, Fred changed his will in the last week of his life leaving his widow with nothing. So there followed a long and acrimonious dispute, when Freds widow finally left the property it was left empty for months and broken into several times. (she eventually got the proceeds from the sale of the Traction Engine - Thats gone as well) Tramps were living in the workshops and took anything of value away to be weighed in. Even when all the original stuff was there only Fred could get it working and maintain it. Its not like the James Herriot Centre for example, which can be run by anyone in safety and needs no specialist knowlege to maintain it [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] bought the place for £185k when most of Freds stuff had been stolen and sold for scrap, registered it as a charitable trust, refilled the place with donated stuff from volunteers (some of it real tat), then put it on sale for £1.25 million because he wants to retire to Spain. He now calls it the 'Official Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre' even though none of Freds family support it or have anything to do with it.
I suspect all this is just another scam after the property failed to sell.
Look at the comments after the article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9630498/For-sale-Steeplejack-Fred-Dibnahs-Bolton-home.html

theGrinch

sounds more of a pet project than a serious investment and investing only £250 is all it is likely to be.

Glen_Clark

theGrinch wrote: »

sounds more of a pet project than a serious investment and investing only £250 is all it is likely to be.

I am a huge admirer of Fred's many skills. But a better way of spending the £250 would be to treat yourself to a trip there. You can see most of it from the road through the wire fence. Fred is buried in the cemetery on the other side of the house but you can't see any of the place from that side as it is behind a thickly wooded ravine. You can see the mill chimney Fred built on his mothers little terraced house in Alfred Street, Freds Statue in the Town, or the excellent Bolton Museum & Aquarium at the Town Hall. Best of all Museums IMO is the vast Museum of Science and Industry in nearby Manchester with working steam engines. These fascinating and excellent museums are free, and thats one of the reasons why this is not an investment - they are not used to paying entry charges for museums - especially when there is so little to see.

SnowMan

If making a visit to Bolton, don't forget to have a pint of the excellent Bank Top brewery's Flat Cap :beer:

It was originally called Fred's Cap but they had to rename the bitter because of a dispute over the use of Fred's name.

I think I read somewhere that Fred was a guinness drinker:( (great bloke but nobody's perfect)

Glen_Clark

SnowMan wrote: »

If making a visit to Bolton, don't forget to have a pint of the excellent Bank Top brewery's Flat Cap :beer:

It was originally called Fred's Cap but they had to rename the bitter because of a dispute over the use of Fred's name.

I think I read somewhere that Fred was a guinness drinker:( (great bloke but nobody's perfect)

Fred accepted Sponsorship from Greene King to promote their bitter, but that was something he wasn't proud of because he didn't drink the stuff. (although I prefer it to Guinness) You are right that Fred was a Guinness drinker, and was drinking it, together with powerful medication, in the last week of his life when he changed his will.
Much as I admire Fred I wouldn't suggest that anyone copy his diet, because thats probably what finished him off at only 66