The corporate and mergers & acquisitions team at Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon has advised on an investment aimed at accelerating the growth of an innovative salary sacrifice provider for electric vehicles.
The Electric Car Scheme was set up in 2020 after co-founders Thom Groot and Tom Eilon tried – and failed – to access the government’s tax incentive for employees to switch to electric vehicles. 
They set up a salary sacrifice employee benefit that allows staff to access electric cars at a 30-60% lower cost.
Based in Hayes, Middlesex, and a long-running client of Burges Salmon – The Electric Car Scheme has expanded sharply since its launch, most recently clocking up annual growth of 160%.
Financial details of the investment, from a consortium of investors, have not been disclosed but was described by Burges Salmon as “transformational”.
It will accelerate The Electric Car Scheme’s ambitions to scale, helping to meet a substantial increase in demand for both its new and used EVs and increasing awareness of the benefits its innovative salary sacrifice scheme offers to consumers and businesses.
Further investment will go into technology to boost product innovation and develop wider net zero transition offerings. 
The funding round was led by London-based venture capital firm 13books Capital (previously Element Ventures), with participation from UK investors Triple Point Ventures, Seedcamp, Adjuvo and Ascension and German fund Bayern Kapital.
The Burges Salmon team advising The Electric Car Scheme on the transaction was led by associate Niall Mackle and partner Alex Lloyd with support from solicitor Manahil Qadir.
Two years ago the firm advised The Electric Car Scheme on its £2.5m seed funding and last year worked with it on an innovative asset-backed lending facility.
Niall Mackle, pictured, said: “Having worked with The Electric Car Scheme for the past few years on a number of investments, the success of the business from start-up to scale-up is nothing short of impressive.
“This latest investment round is another example of the high investor confidence in the business and a recognition of the important role it plays in encouraging sustainable behaviours and championing carbon free transport.
“We’re confident the business will only continue to go from strength to strength.”
The Electric Car Scheme CEO added: “We are incredibly excited to work together with our brilliant team, and forward-thinking investors to deliver on our mission to make net zero simpler and cheaper to become the obvious choice.
“We’re very grateful to Burges Salmon, the team has supported us from our early start-up stage, and we value their legal expertise immensely, which they always articulate with clarity and straightforward advice.”
Burges Salmon employs around 1,100 people across its offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and London.
