White Horse in Upton appoints new directors and chairman

The White Horse in Upton unveiled five new directors including a new chairman at a public meeting on Monday, December 18.

The pub, which is run by the White Horse Development Trust CIC, has been facing an uncertain future following concerns about its finances.

But chairman Steve Walsh is confident the fresh faces can breathe new life into the community-run pub.

A rescue bid for the White Horse in Upton has seen the venue appoint new directors and a new chairman. (Image: Anthony Kelly)

Among the plans to revitalize the venue are a relaunch scheduled for the new year, as well as a crowdfunding effort and a 'negative bar tab' scheme. 

Mr Walsh said the meeting was "exceptionally uplifiting" and that the focus was on "moving forward, more about what we can do".

"We spoke about how the business needs to change," he said.

The aim was to find "a happy medium" between dining and drinking, Mr Walsh added, where eating will be "at the heart of the pub" but "drinkers who may have felt disillusioned" will be welcomed back. 

The pub is preparing to launch a crowdfunder on Wednesday, December 20, and has also started a scheme called WHAT - or White Horse Advance Tab.

In effect this is an interest-free loan - with customers giving a certain amount of money to the bar and then when they have a drink or a meal, the price is subtracted from their account.

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There are also plans to sell more shares in total worth approximately £16,000.

In January the pub will close for a week for refurbishment work before a relaunch in the second week of the month, with more details to be announced.

The White Horse was bought by villagers after having previously been on the brink of closure in 2012.

In 2016, the then Prince of Wales visited the venue to see how it had become a community hub thanks to funding from two schemes he sponsored.