Meet the Team: Michael Hughes

Meet the Team: Michael Hughes is a director at Armstrong Capital, a longstanding investor in UK renewables and partner to Beringea in the management of the ProVen Planning Estate Planning Service (PEPS).?

Q: How do you work with Beringea?

I work with Beringea's ProVen Estate Planning Service (PEPS), offering investors opportunities in UK solar projects and providing investors with a consistent level of return. Because we invest in trading companies that are expected to qualify for Business Relief, it also means that money invested through the service could be free from any potential inheritance tax charge (providing the qualifying criteria is met).*

Q: Where do you see the UK renewable energy sector heading in the next few years?

We certainly see the UK solar sector growing significantly over the next 10 years. The UK Government has committed to making the UK a world leader in renewable energy production, with a focus on wind and solar, as part of a wider ambition to achieve net zero by 2050. Net zero means eliminating the amount of extra greenhouse gases we are sending into the atmosphere.?

Currently there is less than 15GW of solar power in the UK, and this is forecast to increase to 35GW over the next 15 years. We are confident the sector will continue to grow with the committed support of the UK Government.??

Q: What other developments do you foresee in renewable energy?

We expect significant growth in battery energy storage and green hydrogen projects over the next five to 10 years.?

The UK is a leading nation in the deployment of energy storage with the sector expected to expand rapidly over the next decade in step with expansion of the UK wind and solar sectors.?

One of the biggest barriers for rapid deployment of energy storage to date has been cost, reliability and availability of the technology.?These barriers are slowly being removed as increased application and evolving technologies brings greater maturity to the market.??

Meanwhile hydrogen produced from renewable power is expected to become a key part of the renewable energy mix - particularly in the application as a road fuel for vehicles where a scalable battery solution is not viable, such as haulage and public transport.

Q: What opportunities does the renewable energy sector provide for investors?

There are multiple investment opportunities for investors looking to receive a regular income, together with capital growth, by investing in companies with a focus on UK renewables such as solar, wind and energy storage. **

Advances in solar and battery technologies and costs over recent years has driven demand for UK renewable projects with little sign of any slow down. The UK is considered to offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns in renewable investments, which clearly improve when combined with Business Relief.

How do I find out more about the PEPS?

For more information, please call us on 020 7485 7820 or email [email protected].?

*Your ability to obtain tax reliefs will depend on personal circumstances. UK tax rules and regulations are subject to change, and such changes may be retrospective.

** Capital growth is not a guarantee. Investments into private companies involve risk and the value of your investment may go down as well as up.