New Landlord has the keys!
Great news! All the legals are complete, we now, officially, have a tenant- Mike Harris. He has the keys, and is now readying The Waldy for service.
On behalf of the management committee, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has got us this far! Without your support and dedication we would not be where we are now.
Mike’s Message
“Let me start by saying it is an absolute honour and a privilege to be selected to take on the first tenancy of The Waldy under its new Community Ownership. I know how much this pub means to its community, and my family are delighted to be trusted to bring it back to life.”
“My background in hospitality is varied, with my most prominent experiences centred around growing up in a small family owned hotel & restaurant in Cornwall,and then more recently with my own business, The Strawberry Thief, a bar in Bristol.”
“Pub culture is changing, and so are we. However, what lies at the heart of a modern successful rural pub is a beating community heart, and that is exactly what the Waldy has in abundance. My vision is to create a friendly, welcoming, & stylish space that celebrates local produce and craftsmanship. The pub will become the centre point of the community, warm and inclusive, reflecting rural life whilst embracing pub culture and emerging trends in hospitality.”
“So on to the big question, when will we open? It’s absolutely paramount that we get the full opening right, and that takes time to ensure we recruit an awesome team, develop and test our food menus, and set ourselves up for the year ahead.So the full opening will be planned for January -date tbc. In the meantime, I am delighted to announce I am planning some special sessions in December where we will invite you to come along and trial the drinks offer. We look forward to your valuable feedback. Together, we will make The Waldy a vibrant pub again full of festive spirit. Details on those nights, and our wider festive drinks opening hours will come very soon.”
“Finally, thank you to everyone for their truly amazing efforts, from investors to volunteers, and to all who have already offered support. My family and I, with all the community, will make The Waldy great!”
We've Done It!
The Waldegrave Arms, East Harptree to be officially a community owned pub!
The purchase of the pub was completed on Friday 24th May.
What an achievement - a massive effort from everyone who has been involved, who has invested and/or supported this incredible project. An enormous thank you to everyone!
However, this is the end of Chapter one. Chapter two starts this evening and next week the clear out begins!
If you can help in any way - let us know and we would love to get you involved (even if only for a few hours). Please email us at waldegrave.arms.ca@gmail.com
We have over 324 paid up shareholders, including investors from Texas, Southern Australia, Hong Kong and Toronto.
Community Ownership Grant awarded!
Great news: our application for the Community Ownership Fund has been successful! The government has awarded us a grant of £250,000 capital funding (for buying the pub) and £48,200 revenue funding (to help set it up).
In more brilliant news we’re very close to a deal with Admiral, subject to contractual details.
This is incredibly exciting as well as a massive vote of confidence in the community’s support of the Save the Waldy campaign and our business proposal. It also means we now have just over 80% of the funds to buy the pub and carry out essential repairs. This includes investment from 222 amazing shareholders and counting. Well done everyone!
Why we're saving the Waldy
Admiral Taverns is selling the freehold of the East Harptree Waldegrave Arms. If no other pub operator or individual is interested in purchasing the freehold to continue running it as a pub there is a risk that our community will lose it. Without the Waldy, the character of our village will be fundamentally changed – let's make sure this doesn't happen!
We want to buy the pub and run it as a community-owned business with experienced and committed tenants at the helm. Here's why we know it can work:
Community-owned businesses:
🤝 Put local people first providing essential services, fair employment and
inclusive opportunities
🪴Have a 92% long-term survival rate
🍻Offer cheaper and a better choice of beer
🌏 Care about the future – 96% took some form of climate action in 2022, such as sustainable food production and local sourcing
Steps to buying the pub
From number crunching to wildlife watching, there's lots of work behind the scenes going on in our mission to keep the pub for the community. Seven groups have been toiling to put together a business plan, sustainability report and everything in between. Here's a quick look at what it takes for a community to purchase a pub.
01
Community input
We've carried out a village survey but there's much more to do and to learn. Please sign up to the mailing list below to stay updated.
03
Raise funds
To buy the pub we’ll raise money through membership shares, which are now live for you to buy – fill out an application form.
02
Business plan
We’ve created a business plan and we're applying for a government grant towards purchasing the pub. This is now live for you to view.
04
Buy & run the pub
Once we’ve got funding and funds we aim to buy the pub, find the right tenant and make it a place the community can be proud of.
And the survey says...
A huge thanks to all 285 of you who took part in the village survey and for all those who created it, delivered it and analysed the results. This is a huge step forward in proving that the community supports the purchase of the pub and learning what kind of pub it should become in the future.
'A vibrant food, drink and social destination,
where everyone is welcome.
A local that helps village life thrive.’
The vision for the Waldegrave Arms
The detail
The owners of the Waldegrave Arms East Harptree, Admiral Taverns, wish to sell the pub freehold and have been marketing it for sale since February 2023. At the time of writing this the pub is closed and we have confirmation that no offers have been made.
On 19 October, Admiral triggered the six-month asset of community value process which means the clock is now officially ticking for the community to be able to put in an offer.
However, by 19 of April 2024 without our intervention, we risk losing our pub forever. Not only could this have an impact on house prices but it’s also likely we’ll have to surrender the use of the car park too (essential for parents and teachers and to keep the lanes clear). But above all, we risk losing a business that has the potential to thrive, like so many other
pubs are doing in the area. Losing the Waldy will fundamentally change the character of our village.
Therefore, it’s down to us.
The good news is we knew this was coming. Everything is in order and we are ready to go. A community-led group of East Harptree residents has been working tirelessly for over six months to prepare for this exact moment.
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East Harptree Community Benefit Society Limited is set up and running
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A Management committee in place
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Business plan & Share prospectus written and awarded the Community Share Standard Mark
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We have been awarded a £250k Government grant
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People have volunteered to support this process by providing skills and expertise
The next vital step is for the community to get behind the plan by investing in membership shares.
Here’s how it will work:
1. Make a secure investment and become a member of EHCBS
2. Secure the pub as an asset for the community, for good
3. Use your vote to have a say in the future of the pub
The share offer prospectus and business plan are now available for you to review.
There will also be physical copies of the business plan and share offer prospectus available to view at the EH Village Shop along with copies of the application form at the Village Shop for those who cannot complete them online.
Thanks to Keri for our logo!
We've got a brand new look and logo, thanks to Keri Green, a local illustrator and designer and one of two brilliant artists in residence at the Arts Hub EH.
Sign up to hear more
We need your opinions about the pub to make our bid a success. You'll receive our survey and progress updates.
