This exchange gave us the opportunity to learn more about the steps and calculations necessary to develop and implement a viable business plan. We benefitted from the insight acquired by the Kingsbarns team in the course of all aspects of their journey from thinking about acquiring the inn as a community asset through to running it as a new business. Being previously set up as a Development Trust who own the asset of the Inn and the Community Benefit Society running operations is a model we were very interested in.  We now know that the Co-op Bank is a good place to set up our new business account, that a building conditions report is a must and not to underestimate our staff costs when looking at due diligence.

Learning Outcomes

• What would the Kingsbarns team do differently if they were starting the process of acquiring the Inn tomorrow. Do they have suggestions as to the critical issues that the Catterline group should give significant attention.
• What has determined the positioning of the menu vis-a-vis ‘pub grub’ versus ‘gastro pub’ versus ‘restaurant quality’.
• How has Kingsbarns managed to blend volunteer input with paid staff to achieve a viable business plan.

"Being able to experience first hand how the Inn at Kingsbarns navigated their asset transfer has informed our direction of travel in our set up as Catterline Community Benefit Society with an aim to re-open the Creel Inn as a community owned asset. Most importantly we now have connections with experienced people who are willing to chat to us as we go on our journey."