Dear Friends
Many of you may know that for some time I have considered delving into the business side of restaurants, having written about them and immersed myself in the world of food and drink for some 25 years. I’m now turning the idea into reality with an exciting opportunity in our wonderful local town of Wiveliscombe.
This week The White Hart closed, much to the sadness of locals who have now seen the closure of three establishments that, over the years, provided food and drink, The Courthouse, Zekki and The White Hart.
The latter being a very fine building, standing handsome and proud on a corner of the town square.
I now plan to acquire the building and see it rise again as a chic hotel and fine Italian restaurant.
Crucially I’ll be working with Jon Coward, with his wife Millie the most accomplished and successful operator in West Somerset of pubs. They run some half dozen establishments in the neighbourhood, with the most recent addition to their stable of business being The Carew Arms in Crowcombe. It’s a place that teems with people across the week, reflecting their and my shared firm belief that to run a successful hospitality business you need to be open, seven days a week, breakfast to closing time.
We have ambitious and exciting plans for The White Hart and I wanted to provide you with an early opportunity to invest and join us on this journey.
Jon and Millie are seasoned operators, with keen eyes on the numbers and I’ll be bringing my wide knowledge and understanding of hospitality to the concept and aesthetics. And, as regulars of Sitwell Supper Club know, I am dedicated to providing great value and memorable hospitality.
Firstly, The White Hart will re-launch as a smart hotel, with individually, interior-designed bedrooms of which there are 16 en-suite rooms (in addition to a good sized flat for a chef-couple/manager-couple). You’ll have a place to recommend to friends, tourists will flock there, shooting parties will book rooms.
Second, the ground floor will be re-imagined as a comfortable, richly interior-designed Italian restaurant, bar, working and meeting space.
Casa Wivey will provide a wide-ranging, accessible menu of classic Italian dishes, fresh pastas (think cacio e pepe, Nonna’s lasagne, pizzas (to go also)), meat dishes such as pork chop Milanese, osso buco, lamb chops, rosemary and thyme roasted potatoes, desserts of tiramisu and Italian gelato. We’ll have an Italian wine list of Pecorino and Gavi, Vermontino, Chianti and Barolo. And our bar will specialise in negronis and refreshing prosecco. The restaurant will provide families with early evening suppers and more formal evening dinners, relaxed weekend meals and classic family-style Sunday lunches.
Shooting parties can spend a night at Casa Wivey and The White Hart, enjoying a long table groaning with Italian delicacies and great wines, and be fresh for their pegs, after a good breakfast, in the morning.
Parents can use Casa Wivey after school drop-off as a quiet working space, with high-backed stools and bar tables, with good coffee to hand as well as pastries and, at lunchtime, freshly-made open ciabattas and Italian-style sandwiches.
I believe there is a real need and a keen appetite for such an establishment, a convivial, comfortable place of great service, fabulous food and drink and one that can provide a much-needed aspect of hospitality to the area. Not to mention providing local employment and investment in the supply of local ingredients.
The investment opportunity
For freehold purchase, refurbishment and to fund immediate staffing and operational costs we are raising various tranches of funds.
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Small investor via SEIS to raise £250,000
We are inviting individuals to invest a minimum of £10,000 and a maximum of £20,000 as one of some 20 such investors (to raise a max of £250,000). We will be inviting such funding through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEI), one of the UK’s most generous government tax relief schemes for early-stage investors into young (in our case, a new and separate) company. You may know of this scheme and I suggest you research it, as it enables tax relief to be claimed back on 50 per cent of your investment against your income tax bill. If you sell SEIS shares at a profit after three-plus years no CGT is due. If the business fails you can offset losses against your income tax. -
Medium investor via EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme), to raise circa £1m EIS offers 30 per cent income tax relief, no CGT after three years, loss relief if company fails, and/or private investment.
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Major investor via EIS or as single investment (eg property investor or Sitwell/Coward fan club investor)
Investors will enjoy a range of benefits linked to their investment such as dining and drinking discounts (eg 15 per cent off), priority invitations to events, room booking discounts for friends and family and welcome packs in rooms, VIP reservations line, access to fine wine cellar, free wine tastings.
With your investment I believe you can assist me in committing to this wonderful idea, to commit to use Casa Wivey, its workspace, its dining room and bar and to ensure that hospitality, a cornerstone of culture, is not lost to this part of the world in the heat of difficult economic circumstances.
Please get in touch with any questions, feel free to forward this email to like-minded souls. Interest is already building rapidly so if you want to be involved please revert asap. Then get out your frigging cheque books and let’s make this happen!
Yours
William
Please email me to express interest or for more info:
PS this message comes without prejudice, all of the above is of correct intent at time of writing.