The Guardian 7 th July 2017 “When the only pub in the Cumbrian village of Crosby Ravensworth closed its doors in 2009, residents decided they were not prepared to simply sit back and accept the loss of a vital community hub. They took matters into their own hands, setting up a financial co-operative to bring their local back to life – which meant putting in their own money. For a minimum investment of £250, villagers and others sympathetic to the cause could become a “co-owner” of the Butchers Arms. A May 2011 article in the Guardian highlighting the venture contributed to a surge in the number of people signing up, and it was not long before the target was reached, allowing the co-operative to buy the pub, refurbish it and open its doors once again to drinkers and diners (the then-prime minister, David Cameron, even popped along to officially open the bar).”

The Butchers Arms in Crosby Ravensworth is a traditional Cumbrian village pub and has long been a focal point for the social and cultural life of the villages of the Lyvennet Valley. Crosby Ravensworth is situated in the beautiful Lyvennet Valley and is becoming a more popular area for tourists, in particular walkers. The Butchers Arms is a free house with seating for over 50 in the dining room and bar. There is also an upstairs self-service coffee lounge and an outside seating area both to the front and rear. The pub has an excellent reputation for food, drink and customer service offering a range of beer, cider and lager as well as hand pulled craft beers (usually 3 available) along with a substantial range of spirits and wine. There is a full pub lunch and dining menu which includes weekly specials and children’s choices and is mostly locally sourced. The village is only 6 miles from Junctions 39 and 40 of the M6 Motorway and 8 miles from the A66 cross Pennine route at Appleby. From South via M6 At Junction 38, take the B6260/A685 exit to Brough/Appleby At roundabout take the first exit onto B6260 towards Appleby Continue for 3.7 mls through Orton to fell top cattlegrid Immediately after cattlegrid turn left signposted Crosby Ravensworth Follow road for 2.9 mls to pub on left From North via M6 At Junction 39, exit towards A6/Shap/Kendal At top of exit sliproad turn right and follow road for 0.9mls to T junction Turn right onto A6 towards Shap/Penrith After 1.8 mls turn right onto Jacksons lane, signposted Crosby Ravensworth (Chip shop at junction) Follow road for 3.9 mls Turn Right at T junction (Village Hall) and pub is on right after 200m From A66 Appleby West Bound towards Penrith Exit from A66 onto B6542 towards Appleby/ Orton After 1.8mls turn left onto Bridge Street, signposted B6260 Orton Now follow combined directions below East Bound towards Scotch Corner Take B6542 exit from A66 towards Appleby/Orton At T junction turn Left onto B6542 After 0.5 mls turn right onto Bridge Street, Signposted B6260 Orton Now follow combined directions below Combined Directions • Follow B6260 road over river bridge through town centre • After 4.8 mls turn right signposted Maulds Meaburn • Follow road for 1.5 mls into Maulds Meaburn • After crossing river bridge at T junction turn left signposted Crosby Ravensworth • Follow road for 1 ml into Crosby Ravensworth • Butchers Arms on right in middle village

Our Tenants Our tenant; Jon Metcalfe, took over running the Butchers Arms on 15 th February 2017. Jon brought over 15 years of experience in the catering and hospitality industry gained through outside catering, high end weddings, events management and various pub and restaurant offerings. He is passionate about fresh, home cooked food, made using the finest local ingredients accompanied by great drinks and an exceptional service. Jon has a dedicated and enthusiastic team comprising 3 full-time and 12 part-time staff.

Some of the many hundreds of comments from the pub’s visitor book Pepe Sarveudo – Cadiz Espania “Awsome people, awsome landscapes, and food, and on, and on –this is an experience I will never forget ……” Pam + Wendy – Stratford Australia “Delicious Meal thank you” Sharman Stanbaugh – Anchorage Alaska Shareholder “Finally got to visit the pub ! - Lovely people – fabulous food – great concept” Cathy + John – Odessa Florida “Great meal and service – thanks” Grand Isle, Vermont “Lovely people – fabulous food – great concept” Cairns, Queensland, Australia “We’re back after 47 yrs! Good to see you are still open ! Thanks” Edinburgh “Exactly what a serious pub should be. Fantastic, great staff, food” Orleans, France “Tres Bon Pub. Merci”

Awards Articles about the Butchers Arms regularly appear in local, national, and international papers and magazines and Directors of the LCP have presented at numerous national conferences and as well as in Amsterdam along with Burlington and Cleveland, USA. Articles have included pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, Shelterforce (USA housing Institution magazine) and Cumbria Life. The pub has also been successful in achieving various awards:

Lyvennet Community Pub Ltd is registered under the Industrial and Provident Society Act 1965; Register No. 31175 R, dated 10 February 2011, and is now regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The objects of LCP Ltd are to ‘carry on any business for the benefit of the Parish of Crosby Ravensworth by acquiring the freehold premises of the Butcher’s Arms Public House, Crosby Ravensworth to provide a venue for the community which promotes social gathering, employment and tourism within the community, event facilities and additional services for the community’. The key rules are as follows: The Society has the power to do all things necessary or expedient for the fulfilment of its objects A board of directors comprising up to nine members will manage the Society. They will be accountable to the membership and will report to them via a newsletter and an Annual General Meeting. After the first year, one third of the directors will stand down each year and may be re-elected or replaced by new directors. The Society’s rules determine that any surplus made by the Society after it has paid dividends to its shareholders must either be reinvested in the business or used for the benefit of the local community or for another charitable or community purpose. A Member shall cease to be a member if they resign or cease to hold the minimum shareholding. An AGM shall be held within 6 months of the close of each financial year. Irrespective of shareholding value Members receive a single vote. Share withdrawal requires 3 months’ notice but is not permitted within the first 12 months. Download a full copy of Rules

The pub is a free house with the ‘bricks and mortar’ owned by LCP Ltd and the building leased to tenants who are responsible for all aspects of operation and business profitability. In 2010 the pub was valued at £275k by Sidney Phillips. A building survey carried out at the same time highlighted various issues which were all, bar one, captured and resolved during the extensive refurbishment post purchase. As usual with buildings of this age the surveyor recommended stripping and re-slating the roof within the next 5 years. Further investigation and experience with the building since purchase have shown that this work is not urgent. The cost associated with this work has been incorporated into future budget projections and will be done when necessary and budget provision allows. The Butcher’s Arms is a substantial detached property, traditionally constructed in local stone under a pitched slate roof. The main property is over two storeys, with a slightly lower two storey extension to the southern elevation along with a detached stone built outhouse in an enclosed yard to the rear. To the southern elevation there is an alleyway leading to a five bar gate and the rear yard/outside beer garden. On the northern elevation a roadway leading down to a footbridge over the Dalebank Beck allows access by a second 5 bar gate to the rear of the property. This access is utilised for deliveries to the kitchen and to the cellar via a beer drop. All elevations of the building are rendered and pebble dashed Internally the ground floor is open plan albeit set out in three distinct areas; a bar area, dining area and community/games room. With all tables used there are covers for 50 diners. There is also a good sized and fully equipped commercial kitchen along with full disabled toilet facilities for customer use. The building has a substantial cellar for barrel and drinks storage. The upstairs tenant accommodation incorporates 3 bedrooms, bathroom / shower room, office, sitting room and a large breakfast kitchen / diner. The initial funding for acquisition and refurbishment was as follows: Shareholders £300k Key Fund £22k - (£2k grant, £10k loan + £10k equity) Cumbria County Council £15k grant Eden District Council £6k grant Coops £2k grant TOTAL £345k The Key Fund loan of £10,000 was fully repaid at the end of July 2013. In addition LCP took out a further £15,000 from the Cooperative Loan Fund in August 2011 to cover cash flow during refurbishment until receipt of VAT refund. This loan was fully repaid in February 2012. Initial purchase and refurbishment costs were as follows; Expenditure (round figures) Pub purchase (including legals and stamp duty) £259,000 The trading element of the building was refurbished prior to opening with works including; removal of walls to open up the premises ,rewiring, fire alarm and equipment renewal, catering kitchen installation, gas heating and plumbing replacement, re-plastering throughout, installation of new bar, floor and wall coverings, furniture and fittings and decoration. These works which included over 4000 hrs of volunteer input totalled a further £89,650. Since opening in 2011 a further grant from the Big Lottery Awards for All programme allowed the conversion of part of the outhouse into a dry store for food, bottled stock and catering equipment. In addition two of the upstairs bedrooms were converted into an additional licensed dining/meeting space with the addition of a fire escape from the stair half landing. This additional space is flexible allowing a further 24 dining covers, use for meetings or gatherings and a coffee lounge. In 2014 the tenant accommodation was fully upgraded; insulated, further bedrooms created, electrical and heating upgrades, plastered, decorated and floor coverings renewed throughout. In 2019 the toilet facilities underwent a full redesign which enabled the provision of full disabled / baby changing facilities. The existing facilities were removed along with all internal partitions and floors allowing the new facilities to be constructed afresh; drainage, underfloor heating, cubicles, plastering, tiling etc. In addition regular elements of upgrading are carried out as required to maintain the establishment eg. replacement of cellar chiller in 2014, commercial oven and dishwasher in 2019. In 2021/ 2022 a programme of works were undertaken to refurbish the downstairs customer areas including: New carpets Replacement of Pool room floor to ceiling windows and fire escape doors Tiling to back bar Replacement of dining chairs and tables Our tenant also took the opportunity to repaint throughout

LCP has taken the tenancy approach rather than that of appointing a manager or running the pub as a community using volunteers. The appointment of a tenant to run the business was a crucial step. The advantage of this arrangement for LCP is that the tenant carries all the business risk. The attraction for the tenant is that they will benefit directly from the profitability of the business. Therefore they will have every incentive to ensure that the business thrives and grows. The aim in selecting a tenant is always to employ an experienced licensee who has a track record of running profitable public house businesses. The criteria for selection are as follows: 1 . They should preferably have at least five years’ experience in the licensed trade, and in particular in a village/rural setting. 2 . They must demonstrate how they intend to build up the business and in particular how they will provide good quality, competitively priced food that will eventually provide at least 45% of the sales income. 3 . They must demonstrate how they will provide a venue for village events and support local cultural and sporting activities (quoits, darts, dominoes, folk club, quizzes and others). 4 . They will need to provide evidence of their marketing plan. 5 . They will need to convince us that they will provide a warm, welcoming and friendly atmosphere in the pub. 6 . They will need to convince us that they will work harmoniously with the board of directors and listen to their advice and suggestions. LCP will agree a three-year rolling lease with their tenant based on an agreed rental formula: basically the rent percentage reduces as turnover increases. The Society will monitor the tenant’s financial performance through an “open book” policy. Rent is calculated on a sliding scale as a percentage of the previous year’s turnover. As turnover increases the percentage charged reduces. The overall aim of the lease calculator is twofold: 1 ) The rent is set below open market equivalents matching the overall aim of retaining a rural pub / community hub 2 ) To ensure there is sufficient opportunity for the tenant to run a successful business and make a reasonable return. The tenant will be running their own business within our premises and, as such, will carry all the risk of failure and debt. If the business were to fail there would be no legal recourse to LCP’s assets. The lease to tenants requires reimbursement of building insurance premiums.

The shareholding for the LCP has been fully subscribed since launch in 2012. There is, however, regular share movement of between £6k and £10k per year. Any individual interested in becoming a future shareholder should register their interest at the earliest opportunity. To apply for shares please complete the Investment   Form . No payment is required at this stage as potential shareholders are simply confirming their interest in acquiring shares when they become available. The LCP maintains a register of potential future investors. Any shareholding interest is logged by date of submission and should any shares become available these will be offered to potential investors who have been on the waiting list longest. Shareholding 1 . Shares of the Society shall have a nominal value of £1.00 2 . The minimum shareholding is £250 (250 £1 shares) 3 . The maximum individual shareholding is £5,000 (5,000 1£ shares) or £10,000 (10,000 £1 shares) per household. (Resolution 5 b) at 2015 AGM) 4 . Shareholders must be over 18 years old. Below this age the shares can be held in Trust by a family member. 5 . Where a decision is agreed at an AGM to pay interest to shareholders such payment will be made on the 1 st September following the AGM by Direct Bank Transfer only. 6 . Provided the Directors are satisfied that share capital will not exceed the value of the building Shareholders can opt to take any annual share interest as additional shareholding subject to compliance with point 3 above. Full details of this arrangement are detailed in the Share Proposal agreed at the 2016 AGM 7 . It is the responsibility of Shareholders to ensure that LCP information is up to date including contact and bank account details . 8 . Irrespective of shareholding value Members receive a single vote. 9 . Share value upon withdrawal shall be the amount paid. Share values do not increase or decrease. 1 0 . The shares that Members buy are redeemable in the way set out below, but they are not transferable. 1 1 . Annual interest payable to Members of the Society will be determined at the AGM and will be payable in line with individual share capital. Interest is paid gross. It is the member’s responsibility to declare any such earnings to HMRC if applicable. 1 2 . Interest is paid following an AGM Resolution decision on interest payable in any one year. A copy of the full Rules of LCP can be found in the Documentation Section of this website Shareholding withdrawal A shareholder may not withdraw their shares within the 12 month period of becoming a Member If a shareholder wishes to withdraw only part of their shareholding they must retain the minimum shareholding (250 No. £1 shares) Share withdrawal requires 3 months’ notice albeit LCP will make every attempt to expedite the process as quickly as possible. Shares are not transferable. In the event of death of a shareholder the Executors / personal representatives of the Deceased will need to complete a Deceased Member   Instruction   Form and forward with required attachments to the LCP. Shareholding Statistics At the end of 2022 there were 344 shareholders investing between £250 and £7,000 Graph 1 – Number of shareholders by value of shareholding Graph 2 – Total investment by share value Graph 3 - % of shareholders by location 54% of shareholders are local to Crosby Ravensworth and the Butchers Arms. LCP also has shareholders from every corner of the UK; from Isle of Harris to, and worldwide from America (Vermont, California and Alaska) to Eire, Singapore, Spain, France, Netherlands and Australia