Update 15/3/24 - Negotiations continue, we've set a final deadline.
Dear supporter,
Thank you for your continued support and patience. We need some more time.
We are still awaiting a response from Stonegate to the bid we supported. We have extended our Crowdfunder campaign until the end of April 2024. If the bid is unsuccessful, or we cannot negotiate a joint venture everyone is happy with, we will refund you all at this point.
We remain hopeful of a summer opening!
"Save our Fox"
Richard Brown MBE
The Bartons Community Benefit Society Ltd
Update 16/02/24
Deep in negotiations, hoping for a Summer reopening!
Dear Supporters,
Thanks for your continued patience, I appreciate how difficult this situation is for everyone. We are committed to giving everyone the opportunity to fully consider any new proposal. Our Crowdfunder balance is £43,150, some supporters have already transferred their values from Crowdfunder into the Bartons CBS bank account. We are extending our crowdfunder campaign for a further 4 weeks to gather the information that you need before making a final decision. You are able to request a refund. Further updates will be made on our website www.ourfox.org
This is an update of all facts we have:
On 30 January, we supported an initial bid of £375K. This was rejected by the vendor, and was re-submitted on 13 February.
Supporters who felt they absolutely could not continue with us under a new proposal have had their amounts (totalling around 6K) refunded. This should leave a balance of £114K.
We will arrange a public meeting to present the new proposal in the coming weeks.
We will not commit any funds until everyone is satisfied with the proposal.
We are all hopeful of a summer reopening.
How it could work: We hope to be part of a newly created CIC (community interest company). The CIC will own the pub. As a key partner, the Bartons Community Benefit Society (CBS) will own a proportion of the building. Our members will be able to elect one person to represent them on the board of the CIC, giving them full voting rights. The CIC structure limits what the owners can do with the asset and what happens to profits. We can negotiate further protections around disposal of their stake, giving our CBS the option to purchase any made available by the other owners of the CIC). This would put us in a position to fund raise in future to buy a bigger stake.
Sorry not to be able to give you any more detail at the moment, but we are working very hard on it. Thanks again going all for your patience.
Richard Brown MBE
The Bartons Community Benefit Society Ltd