Unit(e) turns UK wind plant operator

British renewable electricity retailer Unit Energy Limited (Unit[e]) is to invest in wind power plant after a share offer by its parent, Monkton Group, raised £650,000. The company says it will use part of the proceeds to start its own wind farm generation capability. Unit[e] is not planning to become a developer itself, explains new chief executive Juliet Davenport. Initially it hopes to acquire some wind assets, but it is also looking to be an equity investor in new wind and small hydro plant, she says. The share offer had been aiming at £1 million, but Unit[e]'s chairman John Sellars says the 65% subscription was an excellent response. "That's a poke in the eye for the doom and gloom merchants," he says. The share offer had not been widely publicised, adds Davenport. "We were trying to encourage our customers to become shareholders."