Peter working hard!
Three weeks ago today (17th Feb) around 140 Bentley residents’ with the help of 40 more outside (indeed some abroad) bought ‘The Case is Altered’. By 2pm on 18th we had access & our own keys.
27 hours later on that late warm afternoon of Wednesday the 19th I stood on the path @ the front of our pub & could not believe the amount of spontaneous activity that had ensued. There must over that day have been more than 40 people who finding their old pub finally open went home grabbed gloves, tools, cleaning agents & the like and I saw both the front & inside transformed in just a few hours. Probably ½ a ton of acorns & other organic matter was removed from the metalled area at the front, also the front roof along with adjoining gutter were cleared while inside brave volunteers removed year old decomposing matter along with fridges & a start was made to clean the kitchen. Vacuums were whirling away & even windows were being cleaned while plans were being set up to pump out the basement pool & return it to a cellar. Just one of those silly but rather magical moments I felt I ought to share.
Enough of that old sentimental rubbish – I am here to report on money matters – so here I go.
Technically we did not have enough money to buy The Case because this particular transaction attracted almost £40k of VAT on 90% the purchase. However being the cunning devils we are, we managed to bring on board a number of villagers who were prepared to lend us interest fee money (which is why I will call them Angels) against the return of that VAT. It was a bit of a scramble but we managed to get £30k of interest free money which, once added to what we had in house left us, after the sale, with a princely £253.13 – I said it would be exciting but how close was that!
Which of course means if any one of even our smallest investors had not bought in we may have been left with just £3.13 or maybe less!
But that was then and three weeks on money is continuing to gently pour in & we need it. We may have a freehold building but we do not have a business & there is a fair amount of work to do if we are to quickly launch The Case again by Easter!
Since the 17th our investors & one kind benefactor have increased our pot by around £8k while more Angel investors have come forward so another £9500 has come in there. While there is one remaining pledge covering the outstanding £500 to top that pot to the £40k matching our expected VAT recovery for later in the year.
Stewart will be recording on his board the current state of share investors. So although I have told you of our Angels their money will not appear on his board because as soon as I recover the VAT they will be repaid. He will however include anyone who gifts us money or any further grants we receive. Later in the year we hope to find profits will also boost that figure targeted to the now remaining £100k that we need to finish the job we started 8 months ago.
There is so much more to say particularly about all the good people who have gifted us their time, skills, materials etc. but I am going to save that for another day. However before I sign off do be aware we are still keen to gather more income from both old & new share holders & the Enterprise Investment Scheme still applies so income tax payers could recover 30% of all they invest later this year while retaining the full value of their investment. But remember you cannot invest more than £20k!!!
Back soon
Peter Cross
Treasurer
01473 805575