Many thanks to all those who took the time on Tuesday evening to attend the Campaign’s successful Public Meeting in the village hall where an update on the key activities that the Campaign has been involved in over the past four months since it was launched was given. Additionally, the next set of important steps that the campaign has to undertake if it is to be able to purchase the pub were outlined, as were the implications of having had EDDC list the Red Lion as an asset of Community Value. All of the points covered at the meeting are contained in the attached document headed “A Campaign Update”
I have attached a photograph taken at the meeting. The Campaign is very grateful to the local Badminton Club who agreed to forego their regular session in the village hall in order that the meeting could be held.
We also were able to launch a number of important questionnaires which are also attached.
The first questionnaire is “Initial Questionnaire: Community Support & Aspirations”
http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/SaveTheRedLionPublicQuestionnnaireFinal.doc
If the Campaign is to purchase the pub then it has to do so on the basis that it intends to run it as a viable business, and in order to achieve this then the Campaign has therefore to put together a business plan that will support this. In preparing a business plan something that the Steering Group are starting to do, it needs to know two sets of things from local people. Firstly, what sort of pub would you want the Red Lion to be in the future? Secondly, what “services” could the Red Lion facilitate for the community?
This questionnaire seeks to get answers to both these sets of questions. So please can you take the time to complete this questionnaire& return it as soon as possible. The more completed questionnaires we receive, the more we can try to shape a future business to meet community aspirations.
The second questionnaire is Register an interest in buying shares in the Red Lion, Sidbury as a community pub”
http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/SaveTheRedLionSharesPledgeFormFinal.doc
NB: the link to this document appears to not work. If the details are put into your search engine then it can be accessed – apologies!
It will not be cheap to buy the pub & invest in upgrading it. However at this point the Steering Group don’t precisely know how much will be needed to be raised. Very clearly we will need to raise several hundreds of thousands of pounds of capital to invest in the pub.
We will be trying to fund the capital investment needed for a viable business from a number of sources. Firstly, through grants from organisations such as the Lottery & the Heritage Foundation. Secondly, through loans e.g. a mortgage. Thirdly, through issuing shares in the business.
It is this last point that this questionnaire addresses. We are seeking expressions of interest, which are not binding on you in any way, from those who support the objective of the wider community owning the pub, in potentially purchasing shares in the business.
We recognise that before anyone can formally commit their money in investing in a future business they will need to have detailed information about the business. That will come. At this point the Steering Group is only trying to find out the potential number of people who might consider investing in the Red Lion of the future.
If you are in anyway interested in potentially investing in the pub I would ask you to complete this questionnaire. You respond will be treated in total confidence. I am pleased that from those who attended the meeting we already have a significant amount of investment pledged. That is an encouraging early start!
We are incredibly disappointed & frankly bemused that neither Punch Taverns nor the agents that are marketing the pub appear to want to pick up the phone and talk to us about how we might reach an agreed price for the pub. It's not as if Punch don't need the money or that the agents have been inundated with prospective purchasers, other than us! It feels as if they deliberately want to frustrate the wishes of the community to own their village pub.
Please take the time to consider the two questionnaires. Please take the time to complete and return them. The sooner we receive these, the easier it will make the Steering Group’s job of preparing a viable and successful bid to purchase the pub.
Please also pass copies of these on to any friends or relatives who might be interested in the future of the pub, and as always keep up to date with what is going on via the Campaign Blog at http://thepubinthevillage.blogspot.com.
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