The Raven Inn Community Pub

Aim

To guarantee the future of the Raven, as a community pub. To completely renovate this historic building back to its former use & glory.

We are a group of determined, like-minded people representing the villages of Glazebury and Culcheth, which form part of the larger town of Warrington, in North-west England. 

We have fought for over three years to save the Raven from demolition.

The Raven was bought by two local families earlier this year, having been stripped of all pub paraphernalia and severely damaged, internally. Since then community volunteers have been working on the Raven, making it ready for renovation

***NEW UPDATE 28.11.22 ***

We understand there may be some people who cannot make the current share offer deadline.

In the interests of giving everyone a fair chance we will extend it, by one week, to 10pm, Monday December 5th.

It will not be extended beyond that date, as we need to move on with getting the Raven ready for business.

One week today we will know how much the share offer has raised ????

 ***IMPORTANT UPDATE 27.11.22 ***

Please note: The £150,000 qualifying shares limit has now been met.

All shares will now qualify for a 30% tax relief claim, from this point.

***NEW UPDATE 23.11.22 ***

STOP PRESS - 50% TAX RELIEF STILL AVAILABLE 

Good news on tax relief.

We are now over £150,000.

This is the limit for shareholders of £1,000 or more, being able to claim 50% tax relief.

However……….

£14,250 of that £150,000 does not come within the 50% tax relief claim criteria.

That means we still have a good number of shares attracting 50% tax relief.

Hurry, take advantage of this bonus before it runs out.

Remember ALL shares attract at least 30% tax relief.

UPDATE

Credit: Video by Gary Skentelbery, Warrington Worldwide

Our vision is... 

To develop a community pub for Glazebury and Culcheth that will be a central focal point for joint village life, bringing both villages closer together and acting as a catalyst to re‐ignite the economy and sense of community in both villages.

• To provide a flexible, multi‐purpose community facility that enables participation in social, cultural and leisure activities by the whole community.
• To protect essential services for both villages.
• To manage the pub effectively, ensuring it is sustainable for the future.

We need to raise enough money to allow us to completely renovate the Raven. Our much loved pub was in a very sorry state when she was purchased, earlier this year. We had no choice but to strip back to the basics, in order to start again. In doing so we have uncovered secrets and features that have been hidden for hundreds of years.

Our renovation will be loving and sympathetic, incorporating those long hidden features into a unique, welcoming local.

We want our patrons to walk into the renovated Raven and feel like it has been this way for hundreds of years.   

The ask...

We are asking everyone to make their own small, but incredibly valuable, contribution to the current and future history of the Raven Inn.

By making a £250 share investment in the Raven, not only will you be helping to preserve this historic Inn, but you will also actually become a member of the cooperative that will operate it.

If you have a little more spare cash, you can invest up to £25,000, if you wish.

The Raven has been bought by two local families in order to save it, and allow local residents to run it as a community pub. We need to raise £243,000, in order to completely refurbish and refit the Raven.

We will sensitively restore the Raven, bring it back to its former glory and have it ready to open its doors to the next chapter in its illustrious history

The opportunity...

You are invited to buy shares and become a shareholder of the Raven Inn Community Benefit Society. You will be investing in a community enterprise which aims to secure the long-term future of the Raven Inn as a pub and, most importantly, as a community hub.

We think this is not only a fantastic opportunity to help ensure the future of the Raven is safeguarded, we believe it is also a fair investment. For the first £150,000 of shares sold, those shareholders can claim back 50% of what they spent on those shares. This applies to all blocks of shares of £1,000 or over. After three years we intend to pay 5% interest on that shareholding. So you not only get 50% of what you spent back. You get interest on your original investment.

There are rules governing this and we do urge everyone to study this prospectus.

Full length video about the community share offer:

At a glance...

PRICE PER SHARE - £1

INVESTMANT LIMITS - Minimum £250, Maximum £25,000

FUNDING TARGET - £243,000

SHARE OFFER TARGET - Minimum £184,000. Maximum £275,000

MEMBERSHIP RIGHTS - One member, one vote

SHARE OFFER DATES - Offer opens Thursday 13th October 2022. Offer Closes Monday 28th November 2022

TAX RELIEF ON SHARES BOUGHT - 50% on first £150,000 of shares sold, under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). This applies to all blocks of shares of £1,000 or over. 30% thereafter.

FAQ's

We appreciate the feedback we are receiving from so many interested people. To that end we have compiled and are constantly updating the frequently asked questions.

You can check these out via the following link: 

https://www.theraveninn.org/shareoffer/frequently-asked-questions

From aspirations to reality...

As a community we now have an opportunity to renovate and operate the Raven Inn, transforming it into a community pub and hub.

After we learned of the plans to demolish the Raven and replace it with housing, in January 2019, our community was galvanised, there was a huge demonstration outside the Raven, public meetings, a community-wide survey where 98.1% of respondents were in favour of the Raven becoming a community pub. We had the Raven listed as an Asset of Community Value and saw off two different developers. We have a Facebook group of over 1,300 like-minded people.

A Management Committee has formed and has registered as a Community Benefit Society: The Raven Inn Community Benefit Society Limited.

The community, through the Society, will become leaseholders of the pub, on a 25-year lease, from the organisation formed to purchase and save the Raven: The Raven Partnership.

We have come a long way, let's finish the job!

Click on the below PDFs to see our Share Offer Document, Business Plan and Rules.

This project successfully funded on 5th December 2022