Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

SAVE THE ABINGDON ARMS FOR OUR COMMUNITY

Our local pub had been going downhill for some years and we realised that there was a threat that the owners would put it on the market. We didn’t want to see the pub sold off, run down and eventually converted to housing so a group of four of us got together and started a campaign to “Save the Abingdon Arms for our community”. In a small village community, a pub is so much more than somewhere to get a drink – it’s the hub of village life. The pub had been trading for over 300 years and we didn’t want to see it close.

REGISTERING THE PUB AS AN ACV

The first thing we did was register the pub as an asset of community value or ACV. The owner of land listed as an ACV is prohibited from disposing of that land unless certain conditions are met. This includes a moratorium on disposal for up to six months.

FOR SALE

Then, almost overnight in May 2016, the Brakspear pub company put the pub on the market and the race was on: our ACV status meant we had six months to raise the finance to buy the pub before it went on the open market. The group of four founder-members round the kitchen table grew to a voluntary committee of eleven and the hard work began.

COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

First up we ran a community consultation, then set up the Beckley & Area Community Benefit Society, registered the Society with the FCA, developed a business plan, set up a website and produced a share offer document. It all sounds quite straightforward but it took a lot of careful planning, a huge amount of work, and a large dollop of community spirit to get everything up and running. 

SHARE OFFER LAUNCHED

We launched the Save the Abingdon Arms share offer on the 1st October 2016 and a month later we had raised an amazing £475,000 from 280 people. We had investors from all over the UK from Cornwall to Scotland – and even from Australia and USA – but the large majority were from the five local villages of Beckley, Horton-cum-Studley, Elsfield, Noke and Stanton St John. The Society is governed democratically so regardless of how much individuals invested, each member only gets one vote. This means that everyone who’s a member of the Society has the opportunity to have a say about what’s important to them. Democracy in action!

WE DID IT!

The amount raised through the share offer showed that locals felt strongly about saving The Abingdon Arms for the community and maintaining a vital social hub. We put in an offer to Brakspear in November 2016 and the community became the proud owners of the pub in January 2017. This made us the seventh community-owned pub in Oxfordshire.

VOLUNTEERS A PLENTY

This was obviously a big success story for our community but the challenge didn’t stop there. We organised an army of volunteers – over 100 in total turned out to help – to clean the pub, clear the garden, rebuild the pub car park wall, and do the decorating and DIY to get the pub shipshape and ready for business. While we were looking for tenants, we opened the pub as a community venture on Friday nights and Saturdays and had vans selling food in the car park! It was a huge success and great to see the pub open and busy again. 

TENANTS APPOINTED

In May 2017, we appointed the first tenants (Aimee, Joe, and their team) to take on the tenancy and start to build a flourishing pub business. Everyone was pleased to have the pub open again for business.

In November 2019, the tenancy was handed over to our second tenants Suzy, Alex and Vicky.

WHAT SORT OF PUB DO YOU WANT?

At the same time, we ran a second community consultation to find out what people really wanted from their local pub. We used this information to advertise and interview for prospective tenants.

SINCE THE TENANTS WERE APPOINTED

Both sets of tenants have worked hard to re-establish and further develop the pub as the central welcoming place of our community. In the winters, three log-burning stoves have ensured that the pub is warm throughout. In the summers, the terrace offers amazing views over Otmoor from your dining table.

Both tenants have produced excellent food with a focus on produce from local suppliers, where possible. The choice of wines is appreciated, as are the several craft gins on offer, and beer drinkers have never had it so good with all four taps dispensing real ales!

More than a Pub programme

We work closely with Suzy, Alex and Vicky and a number of volunteers to offer the More than a Pub programme. This provides a range of community amenities and activities (See Events & Activities page). If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Mike Hobbs (mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com).

Improving accessibility

In summer 2019, we completed a major project to replace the dilapidated old toilets with a new toilet block with full disabled access. The pub is now fully accessible to disabled users.

We hope now to turn our attention to establishing disabled access to the terrace.