Share Offer Open Days - 25 April & 3 May

Sidbury Community Enterprises Share Offer

Open Days - 25 April & 3 May

To support Sidbury Community Enterprises’ community share offer to purchase the Red Lion in Sidbury, it is holding two Open Days on Friday 25 April and Saturday 3 May. The Open days will be held between 10.00am and 4.00pm in Sidbury Village Hall.

The Open Days will allow residents and prospective investors to discuss the share offer, which has a target of raising at least £200,000 by 23 May, and to see what refurbishments Sidbury Community Enterprises are planning to undertake at the Red Lion.

Sidbury Community Enterprises have commissioned an architect to create drawings and floor plans which will both upgrade the pub and to redesign key parts of its ground floor bar and restaurant areas. A copy of one of the architect’s drawings showing a potential redesign proposal is attached for use in your newspaper.

Sidbury Community Enterprises’ Chair Fred Burnett said – “these two Open Days will give the public an opportunity to fully understand why we are trying to raise funds through this community share offer and to also see what our ideas are for upgrading and redesigning the public areas of the Red Lion. We are incredibly enthused with the proposals for how we can redesign the pub and we hope that these Open Days will also enthuse people in Sidbury and the Sid Valley to support our share offer and to become investors in this unique and exciting venture to give the Red Lion back its roar”.

Fred Burnett added – “Anyone who is interested in understanding more about how our village pub could be improved and how Sidbury Community Enterprises intends to develop the Red Lion and support our local community is very welcome to attend these Open Days. If they also bring their cheque books and purchase shares then that will be a real and much welcomed bonus”.

At the two Open days there will be architect’s floor plans and drawings showing some ideas as to how the Red Lion could be refurbished and redesigned. In addition there also will be various artist impressions as to how the Red Lion might look in the future after it has been upgraded.

Also at the Open Days will be the architect who Sidbury Community Enterprises has commissioned, and also present will be the carpenter who has designed the replacement windows that the Red Lion will have as part of its upgrade.

No Expenses Spared Launch Of Share Offer!

Some of the Management Committee of Sidbury Community Enterprises launching the share offer –

More BBC Interest In Share Offer Launch

Sidbury Community Enterprises share launch on 14 April was meant to have been reported in BBC TV West’s evening Spotlight programme. In preparation for this we were interviewed that morning in Sidbury by the BBC’s reporter Lee Rundell. We were also meant to be interviewed live on BBC TV West’s lunchtime news programme but unfortunately the reporter and cameraman had to go to Tiverton to cover the breaking story of a fire in a pub there that is up for sale! What irony!

So, all that we have left are our memories. Here’s Sidbury Community Enterprises Chair Fred Burnett being interviewed by Lee –

BBC Interest In Share Offer Launch

Sidbury Community Enterprises share launch on 14 April was carried extensively on BBC Radio Devon, with a live interview being conducted from the radio station’s Exeter studios at around 8.15am. This is the studio that the interview came from –

2 Ways To Buy Sidbury Community Enterprises Shares

Sidbury Community Enterprises shares to fund the community purchase of the Red Lion can be bought securely online at –

http://www.microgenius.org.uk/project/red-lion-inn-sidbury-east-devon-21

No money will be debited from your bank account until the share offer has successfully reached its target figure.

You can also send a cheque made payable to “Sidbury Community Enterprises Limited” to – The Treasurer, Sidbury Community Enterprises, West Barn, Northcombe Farm, Salcombe Regis, EX1- 0JQ. Your cheque will not be cashed until the share offer has successfully reached its target figure.

Don’t delay, invest today!

Help to give the Red Lion back its roar!

Today - Share Offer Launched To Buy Red Lion

Sidbury Community Enterprises Launches Community Share Offer! £200,000 Share Offer Target

Sidbury Community Enterprises has set a share offer target which it needs to hit within 5 weeks in order to purchase the Red Lion Inn, in picturesque Sidbury village in East Devon. If it achieves its target Sidbury Community Enterprises will be the first community owned pub within East Devon which under the 2012 Localism Act has been listed as an Asset of Community Value.

Sidbury Community Enterprises has today launched a £200,000 community share offer that closes on 23 May, and has also published its community share offer prospectus http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/SCELShareProspectus.pdf.

Sidbury Community Enterprises is determined to give the Red Lion back its roar!

Save The Red Lion Campaign has been campaigning for the past 11 months to ensure that the Red Lion is retained as it is the only remaining pub in Sidbury for the local community. To support this, last November the Campaign registered Sidbury Community Enterprises as a community benefit limited company which could purchase the Red Lion.

Before Sidbury Community Enterprises felt confident enough to make an offer to purchase the pub it invested time, energy and some limited funds in creating a business plan that demonstrates that the Red Lion can be turned into a successful village pub. As part of its business planning process Sidbury Community Enterprises employed a property valuer, a building surveyor a quantity surveyor and an architect. This was to ensure that it knew what the realistic sale price really was, as well as identifying what work is required to be undertaken to upgrade and improve the property and the costs associated with these works.

At the same time Sidbury Community Enterprises worked through with both a business adviser and pub trade professionals the potential income, expenditure and profitability of a future Red Lion business. Sidbury Community Enterprises also produced its vision for a future Red Lion which we produced and widely circulated in February (accessible at) http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/Feb2014VisionStatement.doc.

As a result of all of this work Sidbury Community Enterprises is confident that it has a sound business plan http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/SCELBusinessPlan.pdf    that will return the Red Lion to being a successful and much used village pub. The Red Lion will trade on quality beverages, food and accommodation. It will also introduce greater opportunities for customers to enjoy it, and we will introduce a cafe within the pub providing a much needed additional local facility.

Sidbury Community Enterprises’ Chair Fred Burnett, in launching the community share offer, said – “We have a vision that a future Red Lion business will be more than just a successful village pub. Since the outset of the campaign to retain the Red Lion the objective has been to retain it as a community asset. Our vision shows that we want the pub to be at the heart of the community. We want to support and work with local community groups and events. We also want to use the pub as a base from which new services can be provided to the community. Being a community centred pub is key to our ethos and future success”.

The Red Lion’s owner Punch Taverns has agreed to sell the pub to Sidbury Community Enterprises freehold for £190,000, which is significantly below its asking price of £295,000.

In order to afford to purchase the Red Lion, as well as to refurbish it and provide for the new business’s start up costs, Sidbury Community Enterprises will need to obtain a mortgage and raise funds through a community share offer.

Sidbury Community Enterprises is in the process of obtaining a mortgage and so we are now turning our attention to raising the funds required from the community share offer. This share offer needs to raise at least £200,000. We say “at least” because if we do not manage to raise this full amount then it is highly unlikely that we will proceed with the purchase of the Red Lion. The total amount of funds required to purchase, refurbish and provide the start up costs have been set at a level which Sidbury Community Enterprises believes are the minimum required to realistically create a viable business. Hence the reason why we have set a minimum amount that we need to arise through the share offer.

If the share offer exceeds its minimum target then Sidbury Community Enterprises will consider either reducing the size of its mortgage or increasing the refurbishment works that it can undertake.

To promote the share offer Sidbury Community Enterprises is holding two open days in Sidbury Village Hall on Friday 25 April and Saturday 3 May.

These will be opportunities for the local community and anyone interested in this community venture to find out more about the share offer, as well as an opportunity to better understand what Sidbury Community Enterprises intends to do with the Red Lion. We hope to have some initial illustrations of how we intend to alter parts of the pub’s interior. So please come along if you can.

We are asking all those who visit this site to invest in this exciting community venture. The share offer is open for just under 5 weeks, closing on Friday 23 May. Details about the offer are set out in the prospectus. As issues arise we will be posting answers to frequently asked questions on our blog http://thepubinthevillage.blogspot.com, so keep visiting it during the period of the share offer.

Please also let you family and friends know about Sidbury Community Enterprises’ plans for a future Red Lion and, if you are as enthusiastic about this community venture as we are, encourage them to invest, as every £50 (or more) counts! If there is anything in relation to the share offer or the plans for a future Red Lion business that you want to know, then there are contact details within the share offer prospectus. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Together we can give the Red Lion back its roar!

Share Offer Launch Countdown - 1 Day!

Countdown to Sidbury Community Enterprises’ community share offer launch on 14 April 2014 to purchase the Red Lion Inn, Sidbury, East Devon -

1 Day

v Share offer prospectuses will be delivered to residents across Sidbury

v Share offer closes 23 May

v Shares can be bought in £50 denominations

v Come to the Share offer Open Days:

Ø Sidbury Village Hall

Ø Friday 25 April

Ø Saturday 3 May

Ø 10.00 am – 4.00pm

v Your opportunity to give the Red Lion Back its roar!

Detail at http://thepubinthevillage.blogspot.com