Honeystreet’s Barge pub has closed – The Barefoot barn will live on

The Barge Inn Community Project (BICP) has had to call in the Insolvency Service (see Lottery-backed Barge Inn community project collapses in debt), close the pub and make the staff redundant.  But the rebuilding of the nineteenth century barn that was attached to the Grade II listed pub is to continue and it will open next spring as a visual arts and performance space called ‘The Barefoot’.

The Barge’s owner, Surrey-based businessman Ian McIvor told Marlborough News Online that the barn project has not had ‘a penny’ of Lottery money. He explains that he has a personal interest in the arts: “It’s all my own money.” 

The autumn issue of the Council for British Archaeology’s newsletter features the barn as an example of a planning application on an important (if dilapidated) building that had ‘a positive outcome’.  The nineteenth century wooden barn was not a listed building but, as Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society’s John Baumber wrote: ‘the barn was “listing” in its own right’ and had become an eyesore.

These barns with their overlap boarding and ad hoc alterations done by ‘agricultural’ joiners, are becoming an endangered design in Wiltshire.  Planning permission was granted on the understanding that the barn was dismantled rather than demolished, and a new structure was put up that featured the original timbers.  

As John Baumber told Marlborough News Online, “One of the conditions for granting planning permission was that the new building would enhance the look of the Grade II listed pub and also provide a community facility for the village.”

Work has gone ahead.  The wood frame was constructed by Green Oak Carpentry from Liss in Hampshire – and their work is finished.  The architect, Howard Waters of the Devizes office of Mathewson Waters Architects, says that the structure is now “weatherproof and watertight”.

Work has started on cladding the exterior in oak – something that can only be done when the weather is damp.  As Mr McIvor admitted wrily, they could have gone ahead with this work during the summer – had they known how wet the summer was going to be.

Mr McIvor describes ‘The Barefoot’ as “A nice little project” and believes it will be a good thing for the pub – attracting custom.  The Barefoot’s own website will be launched later this year and an announcement will be made as to how the space will be used – whether for exhibitions or for hire for performances “that fit its ethos”.

As to The Barge, he sees the financial failure of the BICP as a “temporary setback – we’ll soon get a new tenant taking over the pub to run it professionally.”

The whole site – including The Barge, the barn and the surrounding canal-side land – was bought by Ian McIvor in March 2010.  He sold a twenty year lease on the pub to the BICP who won a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS programme.

The BICP closed the pub for a major refurbishment from February to April 2010. Its reopening was heralded by a BBC television documentary and the Honeyfest music festival – which brought Laura Marling to Honeystreet.  

It is reported that Honeyfest lost the BICP over £50,000.  In Mr McIvor’s view it was “A bit of a vanity project.”

The sign on the new barn structure says it will be ‘An inspirational space for the Arts – Funded by Honeystreet Ales.’  Honeystreet Ales appear to be easier to drink than to locate as an organisation or company.  In fact Honeystreet Ales are brewed by Stonehenge Ales of Netheravon – it says as much on The Barge website.

Honeystreet Ales is apparently what they call in the trade a ‘phantom brewery’ and the BICP had to buy their beer from Honeystreet Ales.  And Honeystreet Ales is owned by Ian McIvor.  In that respect The Barge was like a ‘tied house’.

Mr McIvor has not been able to get to the bottom of where all the money has gone – “And we may never get to the bottom of it.”  He reckons that the BICP has had well over £1.5 million through its books since they bought the lease just over two years ago.

It is understood that the major Big Lottery grant was £430,000 and prior to that there was a £50,000 grant for a feasibility study.  BICP had a loan from the local Lloyds TSB of £25,000.  They also had £25,000 from the closed Pewsey Arts Centre – though some of that may have been returned.  The pub’s turnover was £480,000 in the first year of trading and £550,000 in the second year – that’s net of VAT.

Mr McIvor is quite critical of the Big Lottery as the objectives set in the grant have not all been met.  These included building a village shop and a new toilet block for the camp site, proper drainage for the site and renovating the exterior of the pub and surrounding areas.

It is reported that BICP owes a six figure sum in VAT payments.  Mr McIvor cannot understand why it took the BICP two years to get VAT registered: “Two million or so other firms seem to manage it.”

There was a warning that BICP’s finances were in some difficulty in June 2012 when their  auditors found “the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”  This warning appears to be connected to the looming VAT crisis.

The Big Lottery Fund told Marlborough News Online: “We are sad that after so much hard work and determination, the Barge Inn Community Project has reached this point.  It is an incredibly difficult time for any new business to get on its feet, not least one run by community volunteers – with exacerbating factors including wet summers, harsh winters and a difficult financial climate. BIG will continue to work with the BICP project team to ensure they are supported, and help them find the best way forward.”

“Being a distributor of Lottery funding allows BIG to make innovative investments and take the kind of calculated risks that funding from other sources may not be able to.  Funding this project did present some risks, especially as the group were a newly formed organisation that had not managed a Lottery grant before.  BIG felt these risks were appropriately balanced against the outcomes we were seeking to achieve: inspiring rural communities across the UK to take positive action to tackle local problems or answer local needs.”

A spokesman for the Big Lottery added: “We do monitor grants throughout their lifetime and we have worked closely with the project since the grant was awarded to help them try and overcome challenges they have faced.”  Marlborough News Online has put several specific questions to the Big Lottery and awaits their reply.