The next public meeting of the HOTV group will occur on Monday Dec 2nd (the first Monday of the Month).
Fund raising continues, and as can be seen on the yard of ale at the Royal Oak the total is rising steadily and now exceeds £130,000, with the full anticipation that we will meet our target. The share offer remains open so if there are some among you who have been reticent to invest take reassurance from the certainty that this project will proceed: the more investment we can raise the lower the funding we will need to seek from other sources.
While the original objective of completing the purchase the Royal Oak by early 2020 to ensure continuity of the village shop will be now near impossible to achieve in time, the importance of maintaining a shop presence is crucial to the long-term success of the HOTV project. In order to achieve this, we have had the good fortune through the Plunkett Foundation, to be offered a ready-made ‘shop in a box’ (a 30’ container) that is purposely been fitted out for this purpose. It is available from the village of Broughton (Hampshire) consistent with our deadline for the shop closure of Dec 31st, as they will be moving into new permanent premises before Christmas. This is a temporary measure we anticipate being able to complete purchase on the Royal Oak and move the shop in during the first quarter of 2020 or soon after this. We do still need some more investment to achieve this please!
Details and costing are currently being developed, but it is anticipated that this interim objective can be delivered without drawing on the capital funds that have been invested in HOTV, particularly as the Parish Council has generously agreed to financially support this. Furthermore, the current owners of the Village Stores have offered to manage the transition to the new facilities until March 31st while their property remains on the market. We were not successful in persuading Horizon Finance to locate the Shop in a Box at the Royal Oak however the Hall Trustees have consented to positioning the shop at the Williams Hall. Delivery will be arranged in the coming days
Consequently, we are now actively seeking volunteers to support this transition. If you are willing to help, please contact any member of the HOTV team or e-mail HOTVSSG@ gmail.com
Following this transition, the shop will serve a source of revenue generating funds towards the overall HOTV objective as outlined in the business plan.