The Bison Arms
Reviving 80 East St as a pub championing the best of Brighton and stop it becoming a fast food chain.
- Location
- Brighton, United Kingdom
Categories: Food & Beverage Non-Digital B2C
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Investment
sought: - £99,999
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Equity
offered: - 6.66%
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Investment
amount: - £186,361
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Valuation
(pre-money): - £1,401,000
Idea
Introduction
What do we want to achieve?
We aim to revive 80 East Street, Brighton as a pub specialising in craft beer, local beer, championing the best of what’s local including trades, artists, illustrators, writers and chefs to help us create this community based business. A real alternative to Burger King's plans to open another franchise in this period property.
We aim for it to be a modern pub with no ties showcasing the best of local cask and keg beers displayed in our ‘Tap Room’ the first in Brighton.
A kitchen operation run by local talented chefs providing quality, fresh food with minimal waste using produce primarily from Sussex.
A pub open day and in to the night, 7 days a week that engages with the businesses and people around it striking the balance that considers the business, the residents, council and community.
We want it to become a new hub for the community around East Street, one that acts as a positive force, is well managed and will add to the current momentum of the East Street improvements.
Intended impact
How we aim to do it.
Phase 1: £100k: Ground Floor pub launch – March/April 2016.
· Secure lease and sort planning/listing issues.
· Redesign ground floor interior.
· Refurbish kitchen, bar, cellar & toilets.
· Build tap room and bespoke booths.
· Invite local artists to customise their own area.
· Full redecoration of interior & exterior.
· Launch ‘The Bison Arms’ with full publicity launch.
· Invite local breweries to showcase their beers.
Phase 2: £200k: Basement: microbrewery, bar & venue.
Complete listed works required;
· Redesign basement space.
· Rebuild bar, toilets, microbrewery & venue.
· Full redecoration.
· Add basement to existing business & launch.
Substantial accomplishments to date
A successful Seedrs campaign is what we need to begin the dream.
Once we have sufficient backing we can take on a new 25 year lease from the landlord, prevent any other alternatives and begin work on creating The Bison Arms.
Monetisation strategy
Once set up The Bison Arms will operate as city centre pub and follow standard industry controls and growth targets.
Use of proceeds
This campaign will see the funds to complete Phase 1.
This aims to set up the Ground Floor pub business, Brighton's first Tap room and re-launch a food operation.
We aim for the proceeds from this business to fund Phase 2 to renovate the Basement level and launch a second bar, microbrewery and venue as part of existing Bison Arms business.
Once Phase 1 & 2 are complete we can focus on growth and then look at creating further sites under the same funding and management model.
Market
Target market
Ages 20-50.
Male & Female.
Local residents, workers & visitors of Brighton.
Anyone who appreciates local craft beer and cask ale.
Characteristics of target market
There is a myth that there are more pubs in Brighton than there is days in the year. There have been many pub closures all over the UK never mind just in Brighton. In terms of pubs specialising in Craft Beer in Brighton city centre, we think there is just one and that's Seven Stars.
The chaps at Bison Beer have seen a great reception for their business over the last year and a real interest for interesting, quality craft beers especially those made closer to home.
The craft beer market has grown hugely in the UK and we think it is fair to say London and the South East has its fair share of that demand. According to industry-backed research - The Cask Report - there are nearly 1,500 breweries in Britain, mainly brewing cask ale. And the cask ale market is now worth over £1.7 billion, up 23% since 2010. Britons drink about 634 million pints of ale every year - one in six pints of beer served in pubs - and volume growth is outpacing the on-trade beer market by 4.5%.
Current Brighton Market: Inidigo & Laines.
Marketing strategy
This local collective of small business owners aim to revive a pub that has sat derelict for 4 years in a prime position in Brighton’s lanes and seafront area. The difference here is that they wish to start a pub which is part funded, designed, created, managed and supplied entirely by local people.
We aim to create a pub that specialises in the best of craft and cask beers from Brighton & surrounding Sussex microbreweries and showcase them in what we believe is Brighton’s first Tap Room.
A modern pub with no ties and no politics that aims to champion the best of whats local at a reasonable price.
A pub open day and in to the night 7 days a week that engages with the businesses and people around it striking the balance that considers the business, the residents, council and community.
A pub that designates different areas of its interior to talented local artists to design and place their stamp on.
A new hub for the community around East Street, one that acts as a positive force, is well managed and will add to the current momentum of the East Street improvements.
A business that strives to collaborate and innovate with local talented chefs providing quality, fresh food with minimal waste using produce from Sussex.
A place that appeals to residents, local workers and visitors who can appreciate all things local.
SAB Miller (SAB), the world's second-largest brewer and the name behind Fosters and Peroni lager, has just bought London craft beer leader Meantime. We don’t know how much it paid, but the guess is it paid a "full price" for a business which last year sold £17 million of ale. Now, we see that investors are taking other beer companies seriously.
The craft beer movement remained a rather niche area of the booze industry until relatively recently. But a sizeable shift toward tastier ales from lifeless lagers has seen microbreweries spring up around the country, offering experimental beers with exciting new ingredients.
Competition strategy
USPs:
We believe we will build Brighton's only tap room.
Backed by one of Brighton's first craft beer specialists.
Community funded business that showcases local microbreweries.
No ties, no politics giving a chance to many breweries shut out by selected companies that dominate Brighton & Hove.
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