18th January 2021

Barwood and CIM to Install Defibrillators Across Their Multi-Let Industrial Portfolio

A Much Needed Addition to Save Lives

Barwood Capital and Caisson Investment Management have partnered with Henry Angell James Memorial Trust (the “Trust”) to install eight Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) across it multi-let industrial portfolio in areas such as Birmingham, Nottingham and Thatcham.

The Trust was launched by Henry’s widow Sally to create a legacy in honour of Henry Angell-James, a well-known and respected property professional who tragically passed away aged 54 in October 2017 after suffering a cardiac arrest on his regular train journey home from Birmingham to Shrewsbury.

Henry had always believed that the simplest ideas were the best, hence an idea was formed to set-up a charity with a clear and straightforward aim to purchase as many AEDs as possible and donate them to worthy applicants, be that village halls, the village post office or shop, a defunct telephone box or wherever they may be required.

Sally said: “Heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer and sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, even those who are seemingly healthy. Whenever cardiac arrest strikes, there is absolutely no time to lose. It is great to have support from the property industry that Henry was so proud to be a part off. Putting AEDs in urban locations is a fantastic initiative!”

The chance of a person surviving a cardiac arrest falls by 10 per cent for every minute that passes without an AED being used. Survival rates can be as high as 75 per cent when patients are treated with the right care and a defibrillator in time.

The AEDs have been an investment of £12,000 and are to be installed in convenient locations at the estates or nearby to ensure they are easily accessible to not only the people who work there but also the local residents. The defibrillators will be registered with The Circuit, the national defibrillator network backed by the NHS and the British Heart Foundation so that as soon as anyone has a cardiac arrest and 999 is called the closest AED can be identified.

Barwood Capital and Caisson were introduced to the Trust at the 2020 Industrial Agents Society Awards and immediately saw the important work it was doing. They were more than happy to help such a great cause and their multi-let estates were seen as the perfect urban locations.

“Hearing Sally talk so passionately about the importance of the AED provision in the local community immediately struck a chord. I knew it was a good fit for what we are trying to achieve in the communities in which we are invested as part of our sustainability framework.  It just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Danielle Sheppard, senior investment director at Barwood Capital.

Mark Bowden, property partner at Caisson added: “When you consider that administering a defibrillator on a patient combined with CPR in the first 3-5 minutes increases their chances of living up to 75 per cent, we see this as a vital part of our health and safety practice towards tenants and their customers, helping to create a safer business environment.”

To find out more about the work the Henry Angell James Memorial Trust is doing, please visit their website https://www.hajmt.co.uk/