If you remember The Bevendean pub as it was then expect something very different!

The focus will be on developing a hub for the community, a pub that people will want to live close to, a cafe that will draw people out of their homes, a place to eat that will stop people going into town, a facility to provide training and experience to our young people.

We want to establish something quite distinct from the old pub that operated out of the premises. We will use our community-ownership structure to build greater goodwill and buy-in from the community, aiming to serve a wide range of needs that will diversify our revenues from those of a traditional pub.

We will seek to provide community benefit not just through successful operation, but will seek to add value for all involved, from paying a living wage or better to all our staff, through to making the facilities available to meetings and training.

We will entice people through the door through a mixture of competitively priced, quality food and drink provided with excellent service. Our main marketing weapon will be the good reputation and buzz created by word of mouth about our product, service and its community-owned cooperative status.

Our values will be crucial in our marketing, as the community ownership will unleash ‘the co-operative difference’, where our customers trade with us with greater loyalty and intensity because they are our owners, and know that any profits are reinvested into the business and the wider community. In addition to having a great time and getting a great service, they’ll be doing something positive for the community they live in.

We will be fitting out the premises to a high standard:
• A large café area opening onto the South Terrace and main garden area
• A pub area occupying most of the space to the East and North of the pub interior
• A small meeting room facility for 12 people on the north side of the pub
• A community kitchen (see more below)

We plan for a sliding dividing wall between the pub and cafes areas. In the morning only the café space would be open, segregated from the pub, each having its own entrance. At lunchtime the pub would open but still be segregated with people being able to walk through doors from the pub to the café and vice versa. On busy evenings, after the café has closed, the dividing wall could be opened creating a large pub environment. On quieter evenings it could remain closed for a cosier atmosphere.

The pub will serve a range of real ale from local breweries and the kitchen will prepare meals (for the pub of café) that are freshly prepared, as far as practicable from locally sourced ingredients - even our own garden.

We will use the outside space for a number of activities. While we will maintain some car-parking space, we will look to enlarge the beer garden and build a BBQ and play equipment for children. The garden will be developed and a large part of it grow vegetables that will be served in the pub/café.

Excited at the prospect? Get involved.

You can download our prospectus and other documents including our full business plan in our documents section.