Our Story

Why invest in The Gardeners Rest?

The Gardeners Rest has been successfully trading as a community owned pub since 2016. It has an established and consistent local customer base. It is Sheffield’s only community-owned pub and functions as a welcoming hub supporting community groups, charities, and local residents. We have an active commitment to social inclusion work and to reducing isolation and we run the business balancing social impact with long-term sustainability.

We now have specific plans for the refurbishment and future development of the premises which is why we are looking for further investment from shareholders. This new investment, along with grant funding and reinvestment of the pub’s trading profit, will fund the plans.

What are the plans for the current development?

We plan to replace the old conservatory with a stunning new garden room that seamlessly blends indoor comfort with the outdoors. We intend to make the upper rooms in the pub accessible for all by installing a new accessible lift thereby opening up the upstairs so that everyone can enjoy our community events and rooms.

We also plan to restore and expand the iconic beer garden with fresh landscaping, new outdoor seating, and have a roof terrace on the new garden room that will maximise the outdoor space.

What is a Community Share Offer?

A Community Share Offer provides the opportunity for local people and businesses to buy into the community where the motivation and payback is both social and financial. It helps to ensure a truly local enterprise, accountable to the community whilst serving and benefiting that community.

The shares you buy will give you membership of The Gardeners Rest Community Society (GRCS) Ltd. Your involvement can be as much or as little as you choose, and you will have the same voting rights as every other shareholder. You can vote at Annual General Meetings, stand for election to the Board, volunteer your skills, or just give the pub your custom and support.

How do I buy shares?

You need to be over 18 years of age to invest. Shares will be sold at £1 each with a minimum investment of £50. You can buy in batches of 50 shares up to a maximum of £20,000. Following purchase of your shares you will be issued with a share certificate.

The share application form is available here to download, complete and return to the company. Payment can be made by BACS transfer or by cheque.

Can I sell my shares?

After a minimum period of three years, investors can sell their shares back to us for the price they paid for them. This time period is to ensure the business has financial stability. Investments may accrue annual interest for anyone holding shares on 30th September of each year at a rate that will be agreed annually at the AGM. Interest may be withdrawn by sending a request to the company. Where there are extenuating circumstances the Directors have the discretion to release funds early, to delay withdrawals, or to withhold interest payments. Shares cannot be sold or transferred to another person. Profits will be retained
within the pub and used to further its activities.

Tax relief

The Society has approval from HMRC that individual investors qualify for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Tax Relief. Individuals making an investment can deduct 30% of the cost of their investment from their income tax liability, either for the tax year in which the investment is made, or the previous tax year, or within 5 years of making the initial investment. The investment must be held for 3 years.

What are my risks?

The Society wants to be fully open and transparent to its potential investors about the risks as well as the benefits of investment in community shares. Shareholders have no liability beyond the value of the shares they buy. Cooperatives UK recommend that it is good practice to make the following points explicit:

• The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which applies to bank accounts, does not apply to your share account.

• As a member and shareholder of the GRCS you will own the society and the Gardeners Rest pub. If the Society is unable to meet its debts and other liabilities, you could, in principle, lose some or all of your investment held in shares.

•This share offer is exempt from regulation and therefore does not require authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority.

• Your investment in your share account is withdrawable without penalty at the discretion of the Board under the Society’s rules.

• The Financial Ombudsman Service does not apply to your share account or your relationship with the Society, but any dispute may be the subject of arbitration as set out in the Society rules.

Our track record

The GRCS was formed in September 2016 and our initial share issue to raise capital to buy the pub ran between October and November 2016. The GRCS has run the pub since September 2016 and finally purchased the building, fixtures and fittings in October 2017.

The business is run by a Board of Directors which is appointed by the members at the AGM. The day-to-day running of the pub is by a paid manager who is overseen by the Directors. To date we have had £280k invested in the pub from over 440 investors. We have declared £27k of interest on those shareholdings and repaid £95k to those shareholders who either wanted to reduce or completely withdraw their investments. The ability to pay interest and repay investors is largely due to the pub being profitable over the 10 years. We currently have £124k of retained profit after 10 years of trading and some of this will be used to fund the development plans.

Our annual returns to the FCA, the annual accounts and the GRCS rules can be found at https://mutuals.fca.org.uk/Search/Society/7542

Sheffield's Community Pub

Investing

Help create new usable space and preserve the independence of this historic pub