CREW Share offer awarded Community Shares Standard Mark

We’re pleased to announce that CREW Energy’s community share offer has been awarded the official Community Shares Standard Mark!

Both our share offer document and our business plan have been under assessment by an independent licensed assessor since late 2020 to ensure that:

• The offer document and application form are easy to understand
• You are provided with all the facts you need to make an informed decision
• The facts are supported by the annual accounts and/or business plan for the society
• Nothing in the documents is purposefully incorrect, confusing or misleading

What is the Community Shares Standard Mark?

The Community Shares Standard Mark is a certification developed by the Community Shares Unit, with the support of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Since most community share offers are not covered by the Financial Services Act, the Standard Mark is a means of assessing community share offers so that investors can verify the authenticity of a share offer and feel happy that it meets standards of good practice. 

The Community Standards Mark is a voluntary form of self regulation via independent peer review by a licensed practitioner. The review process and subsequent mark provides confidence not only to potential investors, but also to the organisation running the share offer and their partners. 

By obtaining the Mark, societies like CREW show a willingness to follow best practice. Plus, it shows societies like us are open to feedback, scrutiny and review. In short, achieving the Standard Mark demonstrates that the offer has been properly researched and fairly presented to potential investors.

What does it mean for CREW?

Only share offers that are awarded the Standard Mark may bear the relevant seal on their documentation as proof of the accreditation. You may recognise this mark from other community energy groups’ share offer documents. To us, it is a sign of quality that will reassure investors of the share offer’s financial and business standing.
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As a small community benefit society running our very first share offer, it has taken our three volunteer directors (with help from volunteers and other consultants) a great deal of combined work and effort to get to this stage. We want to thank our assessor, Andre Pinho, of Brixton Energy for all his hard work in supporting us through the process so quickly. We are incredibly pleased and proud to be able to provide further assurance to our investors, and to join the ranks of established community groups before us.