CORNWOOD INN
A Dartmoor freehouse pub with a warm welcome for all
Update on the Cornwood Inn Opening Hours
Cornwood Inn was saved by a group of almost 300 people in 2019 when it was about to be sold to a property developer. The group put in over £270,000 between them to buy the pub. Each year, these shareholders elect a board of directors to represent them and to run the Community Benefit Society (called Cornwood Inn Action Group Limited or CIAG for short) that legally owns the pub. CIAG employs our Manager Tina Forbes to run the pub, along with the team of kitchen and bar staff that she manages. CIAG is legally responsible for protecting the shareholders’ money, but the rules of the society mean that nobody can profit from the sale of the pub. If this were to happen, then any profit left over once everybody had been paid would, by law, be used to benefit the community.
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The Cornwood Inn, like the wider hospitality sector, has been battling through challenging trading conditions for the last couple of years mainly due to very high increases in costs. For example, the electricity bill alone has doubled from about £12,000 to £24,000 per year and as you know, the cost of food is still rising. Like most pubs, Cornwood Inn has chosen not to pass on the full cost increases to customers because this would mean that many people could no longer afford a couple of pints or a pub supper. Other pubs are also struggling, last year 2 pubs a week were closing, and this year seems to be even worse. CIAG has some money in the bank which has allowed the pub to stay open during these difficult times. However, the point has come where action needs to be taken to reduce those losses.
It is for this reason that CIAG has decided to temporarily close the pub on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (as well as the usual Mondays) – because on those days the sales made do not cover the costs of opening, which results in losing money.
CIAG is looking at a range of options, supported by professional advice, to find the best way to keep our pub open in the heart of Cornwood. We are actively pursuing ways to change the current operation of the pub that will improve profitability, and we are looking at longer-term ways in which the pub could be managed by a tenant or leased. The recommended option (or options) will be presented to the shareholders - who own the pub - at the CIAG Annual General Meeting in April. It will be for the shareholders to decide how to move forward.
Until then, the Cornwood Inn remains very much open on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, both at lunchtime and evening. As usual there is a range of entertainment including live music and quizzes and the kitchen will be open every day serving lunch and supper. If you want to eat, please book as far ahead as you can so we can get our staffing right and the food preparation as efficient as possible.
It is even more true now than ever that if we really wish to retain a pub in Cornwood we need to “use it or lose it”.
Cornwood Inn Action Group