Autumn Update from the SCPL Management Committee

Dear Shareholders and supporters of the Kings Arms Inn,

We trust that you have had a wonderful summer and taken advantage of the warm dry days to enjoy the gardens of the Kings Arms, the excellent hospitality of Ben and the team, and the events and music that they have provided throughout the season.

The SCPL Management Committee exists to ensure that our community pub remains a viable, sustainable social hub for Stockland and the wider area. This is a short update on our activities behind the scenes since our June blog post. Some highlights from the last three months are:

Refinancing: 

You may remember that as part of the financing of the 2019 purchase of the Kings Arms Inn, SCPL took out a four-year, interest-only loan from the previous owners, Horatio Properties. In order to provide a replacement loan the Management Committee has been investigating alternative providers for over a year. We are pleased to announce that we have recently completed on a new 20-year repayment loan from Triodos Bank UK Ltd. For more information see www.triodos.co.uk

Committee Changes:

On 23 July 2022 we were saddened by the resignation from the Committee of our then Chair, Brian Johnson, following a spell of illness.  Whilst we are pleased Brian has now recovered we will greatly miss his effective and steadfast leadership.  Brian was a member of the committee from 2019 and Chair from March 2021 and contributed significantly to the refurbishment of the Kings Arms Inn.  We wish him all the best.

As Vice-Chair, Phil Burnett stood in immediately for Brian and was formally appointed Chair of the Committee on 15 August 2022 with Jo Ash becoming Vice Chair.

 We are always pleased to hear from any shareholder who is interested in joining the Committee – do speak to one of us if you seek more information. 

In the Press:

An opportunity recently arose for the Kings Arms to feature in an article about the current challenges within the hospitality sectors, and how different pubs are diversifying to meet these. This article was published in the Sunday Telegraph on Sunday 25^th September ( see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/great-british-pub-danger-extinction-how-saved/ ). A big thank you to all that turned out for the photoshoot for this article, and to the Telegraph for permission to use the photo above, taken from the article.

Future Challenges:

The Committee is acutely aware of the challenges facing the hospitality industry and continues to monitor any and all assistance and schemes relevant to SCPL as the property owner and to provide our tenant with advice and support as appropriate, for instance offering experience and learning gained via our membership of the Plunkett Foundation – an organisation dedicated to supporting community businesses such as ours.

Looking Forward:

As we head into autumn, we are looking forward to moving inside from the garden to enjoy warm fires, quizzes, music, skittles and clubs as well as the excellent food and drink provided by Ben, Matt and the team. We hope you will all be able to continue to support the Kings Arms through the winter.

Towards the end of the year we will be sending out information in readiness for the Annual Members Meeting to be held in February 2023. Please look out for this important information relating to the management of SCPL.

Wishing you all the best and thank you for your continued support.

On behalf of the SCPL Management Committee.