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SAVE YOUR PUB

The Craufurd Arms came under community ownership in July 2017. We are not going to lie, it wasn't easy. Here's some useful resources and tips on how to go about doing similar with your pub.​ Check out here for our story so far.

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Our five top tips:

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1. Hold a meeting and elect a Steering Committee.

2. Assess viability of the project and your legal position.

3. Get organised, start raising a set-up fund and consult with the community.

4. Ask for help and engage with as many groups/organisations as you can.

5. Don’t give up – remember enthusiasm is infectious.

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Steering Committee

Here's what you need to get going:

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  • Chairman – Oversee and organise day to day running of project.

  • Vice-Chairman – Engage with local Council to assess support and possible funding streams.

  • Treasurer – Administer bank account and collect in pledge money.

  • Secretary – Supporting the administration of the group and facilitating meetings.

  • Business Planning Manager – Produce business plan.

  • Fundraising Manager – Fill in Plunkett Foundation bursary application form.

  • Website Manager – Continue updating and developing website.

  • Communications Manager - Continue to raise public awareness and manage social media platforms.

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Survey your customers

What do your customers want from your pub should you be successful? We created a Residents Survey and delivered them by hand to the local community. Residents either filled them in on the doorstep or we arranged to pick them up later on. Some preferred to hand in the completed surveys to the pub or an alternative drop off point. We then held a public meeting to share the results of the survey. We also set up a Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.co.uk) page so that the resident’s survey could be filled in on line. We kept this going right up to the point of producing our Business Plan to gain as much information as we could.​​

 

Here's what we asked our customers to inform our business and community impact plan:

Useful links and resources

Our Campaign website www.craufurdarms.com/about contains lots of useful documents and links, including the Model Rules governing the Society, Business Plan and Share Prospectus.

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Our Facebook page www.facebook.com/savethecraufurd

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Invaluable support has been provided by The Plunkett Foundation: www.plunkett.co.uk

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The Plunkett document ‘A Better Form of Business’ explains the principles of community ownership: http://www.plunkett.co.uk/better-business-reports

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Community Benefit Societies are regulated by the FCA

Details of the Co-operative and Communities Benefit Act 2014 can be found at www.fca.org.uk

 

Guidance from the HMRC about SITR Tax Relief can be accessed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-investment-tax-relief-factsheet/social-investment-tax-relief

 

CAMRA is working to protect pubs from closure and the local Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead Branch has supported our campaign: throughout: www.camra.org.uk and www.swm.camra.org.uk    

 

We received support and guidance from Our Community Enterprise Ltd.

www.ourcommunityenterprise.co.uk

 

Pub is the Hub helps pubs to diversify: www.pubisthehub.org.uk

 

Co-operative & Community Finance www.coopfinance.coop

 

For information about community shares go to www.communityshares.org

 

Our funding platform is www.crowdfunder.co.uk 

 

For more information on the Crowdfunder Match Fund visit www.bigsocietycapital.com

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If you'd like to get in touch to discuss please use the Contact Us form below. Good luck!

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