CAMPAIGNERS tirelessly battling to save their historic community pub have been dealt a brutal blow after a rival bidder gazumped them at the 11th hour.
Cleeve Prior Community Pub company members have been left ‘devastated and in shock’ after learning that their offer to buy the Grade II-listed King’s Arms – which the owner accepted on January 10 – had been superseded by an alternative bid.
The attractive stone-built building has been on the market since September 2023 and villagers, eager to safeguard the pub as a long-term asset for all, formed a community benefit society to raise funds to buy it through grants and a share offer.
In December, the group found out it was one of only four pub bids in the country that was successful in being awarded £300,000 from the government-backed Community Ownership Fund.
It was on receipt of this money that enabled Cleeve Prior Community Pub Ltd to go ahead and make the formal offer to purchase the pub with the help of £120,000 raised through the sale of community shares.
Pub group chairman Brian Williams told the Observer that last week he had been contacted by property agent Sidney Phillips to tell him that the buildings owner, Pershore-based businessman Brian Thorp had accepted a higher offer from a third party which matched the original asking price of £350,000.
He said that despite the group matching the new offer within 48 hours the agent said they felt ‘honour-bound’ to accept the competing bid.
“It’s dreadful when you think about it. We’ve spent nearly £10k on surveys in good faith thinking the sale was going through.
“We are custodians of public money and have to account for every pound but our business plan allowed for us to match the increased offer but we were told ‘no’ because as we didn’t come in immediately with the asking price it was not going to be accepted.
“We really do feel as though we’ve been stabbed in the back.”
He said that the vast majority of villagers were ‘horrified’ the pub had been lost at this stage as if grant funding is withdrawn it was very doubtful they’d get it back again, should the new business fail.
Mr Williams said the group was hopeful they could get the third party – who is a recent pub regular and known to the campaigners – to withdraw his offer or at least work together with the group to achieve a common aim of securing the pub’s long term future.
Pub group committee member Sarah Gallucci added to the chorus of disapproval.
“We are devastated and absolutely astonished that this has happened, particularly as we had conversations with the owner and he knew the lengths we are going to to try and preserve it.
“We are so shocked and thought there had been a misunderstanding, and that the agent had accepted the offer without telling the owner but it seems like that isn’t the case…
“It’s not just a pub, it’s an historic building and was going to be a community hub – not just a pub – open for coffee mornings for the older people in the village, book clubs etcetera.
“Currently we don’t have a shop, a post office, we don’t have anywhere we can meet like that and there are a lot of older residents in the village that feel quite isolated. That was a real incentive for us to hang on to it.
“People are really upset and disappointed. We were all really excited as to what we were going to build together as a village.”
The group has been in touch with the Droitwich and Evesham MP Nigel Huddleston who has been a big supporter of the 15-month campaign to buy the pub in the hope that he can help.
An urgent meeting of shareholders, villagers and interested parties has been hastily arranged for tonight (Tuesday, March 11) at 7pm at the village hall to gauge views, discuss options and next steps. All welcome.
“We’re not going down without a fight,” Sarah added.
