Residents buy pub to keep ‘heart of village’ beating

A GROUP of residents has bought the pub in Crazies Hill to safeguard the “beating heart” of the village.

The Horns has been closed for the last 18 months after tenants Owen Hardy and Jade Jeffries left in September 2022 after two years.

Numerous people have tried to make the Brakspear pub a success over the last 15 years but found trading a challenge.

Now the company has sold the pub to Horns Hospitality, a consortium comprising 37 investors, for £753,000.

The purchase negotiations were led by managing director Dave Smith and fellow directors Phil Davies, Angela Collis and Justin McKeegan.

Mr Smith, 70, who lives in Crazies Hill, said: “As soon as the pub closed we were worried that it wouldn’t reopen again as it had had 10 tenants in the last 15 years or so.

“Even the most successful of those managed three years before they gave up. Every one lost money.

“When the previous tenants left, Phil and I began working on a plan to secure the long-term future of what is the only remaining pub in our two hamlets, Crazies Hill and Cockpole Green.

“By last summer there was increasing concern that Brakspear was not going to find a new tenant in the near future and possibly not at all.

“Justin, an investment banker, then came to us with a business plan which showed that, with the right funding, the Horns could be run profitably if it could be wrested from its historic tie with Brakspear.”

Pubs belonging to a pub company are known as tied houses and the tenants are contractually obliged to buy stock, such as beer and other drinks, from the company.

Mr Smith, a retired British Airways pilot, said: “We thought that there had to be a way to get the pub out of Brakspear’s hands to buy it for the village and the surrounding villages.

“The pub had been well patronised off and on and, when it was, the problem remained the tie.

“You have to buy your stock at twice the price that you would find on the open market. Then, as soon as it starts making a success, the rent gets put up.”

The group sounded out other villagers about whether they would support a bid to buy the pub.

Horns Hospitality was launched in September and Ms Collis was brought in as finance director.

Mr Smith said: “We spoke to a few villagers and that gave us the confidence that we could raise enough money to buy the pub.

“We made an offer in October but Brakspear said the pub wasn’t for sale but in November, after some negotiating, they came up with a price that was considered acceptable.” A public meeting was held at the village hall in December, which was attended by 60 people including residents of Cockpole Green, Warren Row and Upper Culham.

The directors gave a presentation of their vision and invited villagers to become shareholders to raise enough money to buy the pub.

Two weeks later they had more than enough money to complete the purchase.

Mr Smith, who also chairs Crazies Hill Residents’ Association, said: “At the meeting we explained that we wanted a place where you can get good quality and consistent food.

“We want to put accommodation upstairs, two or three double bedrooms with en-suites, and we wish to make it somewhere for residents to go as well as attracting people from the surrounds.

“The restaurant currently has 80 covers but the plan would be to extend this. Part of the business plan requires us to take out a loan to pay for the refurbishment and now we won’t need to take out as much due to having money spare from the buyout.

“A full structural survey has been done and nothing major is needed but some work is necessary to get rid of the damp. We haven’t decided exactly what will be part of the refurbishment yet.

“It is a Grade II listed building so we will need listed building consent even though most of the work will be internal. We are engaging with a consultant and meeting next week before putting plans into Wokingham Borough Council.”

The investors had to pledge a minimum of £5,000 each and were warned that there would be no special privileges for shareholders.

Mr Smith said: “We are not going to be a community pub in a sense that some pubs are. Although there are 37 shareholders, there are four directors who are in charge of running it and we have told everybody that there are no perks — everyone is still a customer.

“As soon as the pub starts making a profit, money will be paid to the shareholders. Technically, if the pub does not do well, we can sell it but that won’t happen.

“Everybody is so pleased at the prospect of the Horns opening again. People really do miss it. The residents have been running a pop-up pub at the village hall that gets 60-odd people on a Friday night.

“The pub is the beating heart of the community. For the last 18 months people have been coming up to me and asking, ‘Dave, what’s happening to the pub?’ but we couldn’t tell them anything.

“We are delighted to now be able to say we have finally taken over the ownership and secured the future of our pub for the village.

“It will be some time before we can reopen the doors but it will be a wonderful day when that happens and we will have the biggest party that Crazies Hill and Cockpole Green has seen in a long time.”