Hope for the Richmond

The owners have issued a positive response to all the feedback provided at the open meeting last week.

Dear All,

Thank you very much for giving up your time and attending the meeting last week.  Although it was challenging at times we came away energised by the engagement shown.  We appreciate that some people will always think that we are trying to enrich ourselves and are cynical about our motives, but we have worked very hard over the last 4 years to save the pub and spent lots of money in the process.  We believe in our integrity and honesty. If you are interested in the work we directly put into running the pub, then please review the trading history account for the 15 months we ran the pub below – click here:

In addition, there were questions raised about what we paid for the pub and what is logged with the Land Registry.  You will see from the relevant page from the contract for sale that the purchase price was split between the purchase for the property and a ‘goodwill’ element.  This is because we bought the pub as a going concern and therefore had to buy both the business and the property.  The logged Land Registry price therefore is not the full price we paid – click here

We would like to work with you to try to keep the Richmond as a commercial property and therefore have agreed to the following approach:

1. We will continue to market the property for a tenant to take on the property and are open to any discussion

2. Please complete the following brief survey link so we can gain more information from the community about:

   1. The desirability in the community for us to setup a “Corkage” business model (see below for more information)

   2. The real interest in the community to commit to financially supporting the Richmond

   3. Whether there is any desire in the community to set up a group to take on the property either in whole or in part to run themselves.  This could be a wide ranging discussion which could include discussions to sell the whole property to the community

   4. We would like to set up a group to work with us – if you have any marketing, architectural, catering or hospitality experience or just really want to be involved then please sign up on the survey form above.  The meeting date will be confirmed, but please pencil in the 25th of September next week at 8.30pm at the Hare and Hounds. We will buy you a drink in return! Agenda to follow, but we will plan together the next steps including the dates/times of all the meetings, milestones etc.

3. Although, there was a great deal of pressure at the meeting for us to withdraw our application for change of use, and whilst we are energised and very pleased by the engagement and numbers at the meeting we would like to make the following observations:

   1. There was a similar show of support back in 2013 against Punch Taverns’ plans to change the use of the pub.  This was one of the reasons we decided to buy the pub in 2014 because we thought that with this customer base it would indeed be successful.  The show of support in 2013 however did not translate into customers when we took over the pub from September 2014 to December 2015. Nor indeed did these numbers transpire for the chef Jeremy Johnson who took on the 15 year lease.

   2. Please appreciate that if a pub of this kind, without dedicated parking, limited to zero passing trade and off the beaten track in Bath, is going to be successful then it relies almost entirely on the local community to use it regularly throughout the year.  This means a couple times a week for a drink and once a month for food, not just just in the spring or summer months when the nights are longer and the weather better. Please find click here to the survey we conducted at the end of October 2014 after we had been trading for 2 months.  It makes interesting reading.

What you will see from this survey (albeit with 40 responses) is the very wide range of expectations of what the pub should be and also the real lack of ‘regulars’.  Only 15 of the 40 respondents described themselves as regular pub goers at either the Richmond or any other pub.

4.  Finally, the change of use application, we have been advised, will take several months to be determined as it is very likely to need to go to appeal.

For these reasons we will continue with the current application but will withdraw it if:

• A tenant is found for the property or

• The feedback from the community in the survey above demonstrates a real commitment to supporting the Richmond.  As a ballpark we would need at least 50 people committed to spending a minimum of £20 a month every month at the Corkage business model or

• The community set up a group to agree to take on running part or the whole of the Richmond or agree to purchase the whole property

We are committed to trying to make the Richmond a success, but we are family(s) with limited resources and the business needs to break even at the very least.

Many thanks for your support. Please note that some of the email addresses provided were illegible so please forward on to any interested party(s).

Kind regards,

Rupert, Catherine and Jamie

Addendum:  Corkage vision for the Richmond

We are investigating the feasibility of a model for the Richmond similar to what the Corkage on Walcot Street offers. The pub would offer specialty bottled beers, wines and good quality coffee. Small plates of food for sharing would reflect the seasons. The interior would be stylishly decorated to celebrate the heritage of the pub plus modern comforts. The front room would be a comfortable and cosy space with a range of magazines, board games etc. There will be wood burning stove in the winter months. The garden will be restored to its previous glory with raised beds full of flowers and herbs and plenty of seating.  Off sales would be also available. The Richmond would be open from 5pm Wednesday to Friday and from 12pm Saturday and Sunday (perhaps longer in the holiday seasons). The Richmond would also be a community venue for hire. It could be booked in advance by groups such as St Stephen’s PTA, mums meeting for coffee or prosecco, arts and crafts groups, birthday bashes and so forth. The rooms upstairs may be offered on a bed and breakfast basis on Airbnb and advertised as high quality and not available to stag groups. Alternatively it would form the home for the owners.

We understand the concerns neighbours have regarding the letting rooms at the Richmond Arms. We have no intention to allow the Richmond to become a location for anti-social behaviour or all night revelling. Although Airbnb has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, we have used Airbnb and Holidays Lettings successfully for over 5 years in order to let out our family home during the holidays. Our neighbours will testify how considerate and responsible the guests have been. Bath is a thriving tourist destination and most of the city is geared towards this. Indeed the Georgian city we see today is a legacy of the booming tourism of that era which put Bath on the map for upper class people who came here for leisure, gambling and parties! Today it still attracts tourists who love high culture and idyllic settings. The Richmond could capitalise on this and can do so without neglecting its duties to the neighbourhood.