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Don’t invest unless you're prepared to lose money. This is a high-risk investment.
You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Take 2 mins to learn more.
CEOs are a special breed and we sat down with the CEO of Ambient Lighting, Joe Mcloughlin, to learn more about his successes, failures and where he plans to take the company in the future.
Joe is fanatical about customers which shows in his focus on providing superior service and his commitment to client satisfaction. This clear focus has resulted in the company's growth since 2016.
Let’s dive in.
What work were you involved in before starting Ambient Lighting?
I have been involved in the lighting industry for over 25 years dealing with major clients and projects, design and manufacturing processes. I decided to start up Ambient after securing a large PBSA project with one of my clients and we are still supplying them today. We have now grown to become tier 1 suppliers to multi-billion pound companies and this is getting stronger year on year.
In one sentence what is your business?
A one-stop energy-efficiency company, supplying high-quality LED lighting, EV charging and battery storage solutions to the commercial industry.
What prompted you to start Ambient Lighting and what problems you are solving for customers?
I saw an opportunity in the growing energy reduction market to establish a range of high-quality LED luminaires with high-quality manufactured products that look at reducing the carbon footprint of commercial buildings. With energy-efficient 10-year-saving reports for each building, we offer this to our clients as a standard so they can understand the actual savings that can be achieved just by switching existing lights over to LED, which in some buildings is eye-watering in terms of energy, carbon and money.
In terms of problem-solving, we are offering new innovative energy lighting from the very start of a project when there is limited power available with our 110V power moon and site lighting, right through to the finished LED lighting throughout the building, we also produce lighting design solutions to our clients to ensure the correct Lux levels are achieved throughout the building.
What differentiates Ambient from its competitors?
We have a new exclusive UK range of innovative lighting solutions which are totally unique and only available through Ambient, we are now specified on HS2, and various Highways projects and we have a complete range of LED luminaires including the following products, Street Lighting, Site Lighting, Emergency, internal, external, EV charging solutions, PV and now battery storage.
What is something about your business you're proud of?
I would have to say the quality of our clients we have maintained and continue to attract, this is because we offer a superb service from the initial design to the manufacturing process right through to delivery to site – It's all about putting our clients first.
What are your goals for the future of Ambient Lighting?
Our goals are to continue our UK growth, expand to the USA market and increase our EV and battery storage solutions as we see this as a massive market in the coming years.
If you haven’t already invested in Ambient Lighting Ltd, click here.
Risk Warning
Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Your capital invested is not covered for compensation in the event of a loss by the FSCS. Tax treatment will depend on the individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Please see our Risk section before making an investment decision.
Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results.
Your capital invested is not covered for compensation in the event of a loss by the FSCS.
Tax treatment will depend on the individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Please see our Risk section before making an investment decision.
Risk summary for P2P agreements or P2P portfolios
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this
investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
You could lose the money you invest
Many peer-to-peer (P2P) loans are made to borrowers who can't borrow money from traditional
lenders such as banks. These borrowers have a higher risk of not paying you back.
Advertised rates of return aren't guaranteed. If a borrower doesn't pay you back as agreed, you
could earn less money than expected. A higher advertised rate of return means a higher risk of
losing your money.
These investments can be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA). An IFISA does not reduce
the risk of the investment or protect you from losses, so you can still lose all your money. It
only means that any potential gains from your investment will be tax free.
You are unlikely to get your money back quickly
Some P2P loans last for several years. You should be prepared to wait for your money to be
returned even if the borrower repays on time.
Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a 'secondary
market', but there is no guarantee you will be able to find someone willing to buy.
Even if your agreement is advertised as affording early access to your money, you will only get
your money early if someone else wants to buy your loan(s). If no one wants to buy, it could take
longer to get your money back.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky.
Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do
well.
A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk-investments.
The P2P platform could fail
If the platform fails, it may be impossible for you to collect money on your loan. It could
take years to get your money back, or you may not get it back at all. Even if the platform has
plans in place to prevent this, they may not work in a disorderly failure.
You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed
regulated firms, does not cover investments in P2P loans. You may be able to claim if you
received regulated advice to invest in P2P, and the adviser has since failed. Try the FSCS
investment protection checker here.
Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance.
If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn
more about FOS protection here.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA's website here.
For further information about peer-to-peer lending (loan-based crowdfunding), visit the FCA's website here.
