The refurbishment works are progressing well with all of the building’s structural work completed as of the end of November 2024. To get to this stage has been a huge undertaking though not without the odd unexpected challenge. The main fabric of the original building is constructed from sandstone, which has been in place for hundreds of years. The mud, straw, and horsehair holding much of it together do not fare well over such extended periods! As a result, and with regularity, every time we remove some plaster or lift a piece of timber there is another cracked wall or unstable piece of masonry which has to be stripped out very delicately and repaired using specialist building techniques compatible with an historic building and its fabric. In short, this has been far more expensive and time consuming than was envisaged.
We have funding in place to cover the majority of the refurbishment of the building fabric, floors, walls, electrics and plumbing all to a good standard and ready for an operational pub and hub. However, there are some additional unfunded costs ahead of us for the commercial kitchen, kitchen extraction, fridges and freezers and cellar fit out, as well as these costs we also have landscaping costs which we are committed to as part of our planning application. These costs have increased well above budget and in the main due to the new Bio Diversity Net Gain requirements introduced in April.
Since receiving the Community Ownership Fund (COF) grant on the 20th December 2023, it took until April 2024 to agree contract terms with the owner and it was only possible for us to launch the share offer once these were agreed, which we did on the 2nd of May 2024.
The refurbishment of The Golden Lion had deadlines to achieve, as set out by the original Grant Funding Agreement with the COF. Broadly, this was to have the grant funded refurbishment works completed by the 20th of December 2024.
As a result of the above, we decided to approach the COF to seek an extension to the project timeline within our original Grant Funding Agreement. Formal approval was received the 22nd November 2024 enabling us to extend the project timeline out to 20th June 2025.
While we have addressed the timescale extension required, we are still faced with a funding shortfall for some of the works ahead. The increased timeframe will help with having more time to complete the works, but also to continue our fundraising. We have a number of funding options that we are actively pursuing, including additional grant funding opportunities, local organisation investment, tenant buy-in but most importantly, our continued Community Share offer.
In our prospectus we set a cap on the Share Offer of £420,000 and due to the additional costs identified, we will need to get as close to this figure as possible in order to complete the refurbishment of our Golden Lion to a high standard.
The extended timeframe also assists us with our opening plans and gives us the greatest opportunity for a successful opening. All the industry advice we have had indicates that Christmas and New Year are probably the most challenging times of year to open a new hospitality business. Easter onwards however, offers a far better chance of having a successful opening event with maximum publicity and being able to provide an excellent customer experience.
The Committee have consulted the Share Mark Scheme about the change to our Share Prospectus and they have confirmed that the quality assurance currently accredited to the Golden Lion Share Scheme is unaffected by the change.
Thank you for your continued support as a Shareholder. If you have any questions or concerns relating to this update, please contact us by email.