TOPIC:

Are we any closer to getting an independant valuation of the pub?

I feel strongly we need to get a professional pub valuation - the current price seems very high to me - pub prices are normally considerably less than the same property would be if valued as housing/development potential etc.

Brooks wrote:

Are we any closer to getting an independant valuation of the pub?

I feel strongly we need to get a professional pub valuation - the current price seems very high to me - pub prices are normally considerably less than the same property would be if valued as housing/development potential etc.

I agree with Brooks on this. If you consider that the Waggon & Horses at Batheaston was valued at £300K approx and was in a better state of repair.
It makes the valuation of £925K very high indeed and probably reflective of residential development. Perhaps Ian could clarify his instruction to the Estate agents!!

We're looking at ways of getting a valuation done for free [there are possibilities via organisations that support community ownership etc.] and will certainly have had one before we spend anyone's money - a problem with not being developers or companies is that we don't have cash sloshing around to do that sort of thing on spec.
As far as I can tell, many of the business types who have been round to look at the pub don't think the amount is too much.
The business makes money [and surely more than the W&H] and equally a listed & historic building in a central Bath Conservation Area will be worth more than an equivalent out of town.
It may be part of a system that stinks but I don't see how we can avoid the potential value of the property as a residential site affecting the sale value - even if such a buyer would never get the Change Of Use through - and at least that means that we're buying an asset which will still have value if, say, the Government makes beer illegal in 100 years time or something.
It's true, as was pointed out back on the facebook pages, that the agents selling here have sold many pubs that haven't stayed in business, but that's a sad fact about pubs in general at the moment [only not The Bell] and will affect prices whether we like it or not.
None of those are definitive arguments but they're part of why I'm prepared to believe the price for the moment. But yes we should get an independent valuation anyway.

It is great news about the amount raised and you all deserve a pat on the back for what is obviously a lot of hard work. I assume all that remains is to gauge the correct amount to offer to Ian!

I agree Towaho.

Biggest worry now is the price we pay. Alot of peoplle have been saying ( and I agree) the price is a bit steep. For a business of its size.

Yes the building would be worth alot if it were not a pub but the whole point is we want it to reamin a pub.

Did the independant valuation take place?

The Bell benefits from the unfortunate demise of so many pubs in Britain - it is an ill wind. It has been continuously profitable during the whole of the Ian Wood management, thanks to the mix of staff and customers made possible by his distinctive style of 'letting things take care of themselves' - so long as the books look ok at the end of each month.

The Bell seems to qualify for the HMRC scheme of tax relief on cooperative investments, because it falls into the category of a 'high-risk' small business - which is where the ill wind comes into it. There is no reason that the books should suddenly take a nose-dive into unprofitability, especially as the Chancellor of the Exchequer knocked 1p off the price of a pint, the same day as the close of the share option!

Ian has been extremely altruistic in offering the period of time needed to launch a successful public take-over, and we all know that his commitments extend somewhat further than trousering a load of cash and waving goodbye - which is THE main reason why this launch has been so successful.

Ian went into a record book when he took over the tenancy of the Hat and Feather all those years ago, for being the youngest landlord in Britain. On his exit from the pub trade, he has gone into the record books again, for creating the only town or city-centre pub to be taken over by a cooperative share investment scheme.

Hats off to him, I say, and I hope he will hang around long enough for his long experience to be made use of by the management, at least for the immediate short-term.

The price was set from the start, and everyone knew it - including some sharks swimming around in the water who would have dearly liked to turn it into a gastro - or worse - sports bar.