Rural pub grants up for grabs
Rural pubs in eastern England can apply for new business development grants of up £1,500.
Around 70 grants are available between now and February to country pubs in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
The grants, from the Government-funded East of England Development Agency via Business Link, are not for capital projects but rather for schemes that can improve business and increase revenue.
"It can be for a whole variety of things," said Business Link's rural affairs partnership director Edwin Jones.
"Anything from new websites to better marketing. Sometimes it's to help improve the food offer, it can be new menus, signage, a playing area in the garden, or for staff customer training.
"We've been banging on for two or three years about how rural pubs are suffering. We approached the EEDA and said that just a little bit of money could do something to help some of those pubs with cashflow, which is often the major problem."
Business Link assessors would undertake a review of the pub and decide whether to grant the money and to draw up a business plan.
Jones said around 220 pubs secured grants during similar schemes in the past two years.
He added: "There's only so much money available. We reckon at the moment we've got enough money for about 70 [pubs] - that's if they take the top whack."
Jones said grants will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis. Business Link has been working with Pub is the Hub as part of the scheme.
For more information, call Business Link on 08457 171615 or visit www.businesslink.co.uk/east.
On Tuesday the Morning Advertiser reported that 50% capital grants of up to £5,000 are being made available to licensees of rural pubs in Essex, thanks to funding from Essex County Council.
The iconic King's Head in Laxfield, Suffolk, can now attract business from further afield after a £1,500 grant paid for a complete overhaul of its website at the start of the year.
Adnams lessee Bob Wilson applied to Business Link and had a consultation with a representative about what scheme would best suit the pub. The King's Head is famed for having no bar - beers are served directly from the barrel.
It was decided that the website would be redesigned and new functions added, such as - crucially - the ability book rooms on-line.
"We are getting people contacting us from here, there and everywhere through the website," the licensee said. "It has spread the word significantly."
Some of the cash was also used for minor refurbishments of the letting rooms.
Wilson said: "While pubs are having such a torrid time, things like this are a bonus. I couldn't fault Business Link."
