Hello lovely members! Hopefully you received an email about our Members’ meeting this evening – if you can, please come along to the County Buildings (the supper room upstairs, not the main hall this time) at 8pm til 9pm. We look forward to providing an update on the progress of the bar, the Community Hub, and a few other things before we open up for drinks on March 28th at 6pm!
Agenda
1. Welcome and Apologies
Apologies received from Penelope Cumming. 25 Members present and 7 committee members.
Craig gave grateful thanks for the continued support of members attending the meeting. Thanks were given for the support being received from all the members, and the continued trust in the committee.
2. Volunteer and business appreciation
Thanks were given to all volunteers who had helped with all sorts of jobs , and a list of all the help, donations and time given so far, which included Paul Scott of P S Carpets who donated and fitted replacement flooring in the corridor, and for the Wigtown Community Shop for their donation of £500, plus numerous others who have given their time and expertise to help get the Wigtown Ploughman into the position of being ready to open the doors on Friday 28th March 2025. Decorating committee looking at moodboarding ideas for the styling of the accommodation, having already done a fabulous job in creating a warm and inviting warm space – henceforth to be known as The Lounge.
3. Community share offering finalisation
80% of the share offerings have now been paid up and the outstanding pledges are being followed up. The swift payments of the pledges has allowed us to progress with purchasing necessary items, giving us the confidence that we can proceed and have budgets available. We are now in the position of being able to look at refurbishing the accommodation due to the high response and the cash flow.
4. Community Hub update
Now to be known as The Lounge – we have had 20 volunteers for the lounge but we have had to delay the opening as we are needing a volunteer manager to create a rota of volunteers to ensure we have cover available, we are now looking at 14 April for opening the Lounge and are actively seeking a volunteer manager. We will also be looking at a booking system for groups to be able to hold meetings in the Lounge outside of standard opening times. We have purchased an urn and essentials to provide tea and coffee, using the donation from the Wigtown Community Shop.
5. Bar opening date
David confirmed that the opening will be Friday 28th March at 6pm with local celebrity Scad who has kindly agreed to pull the first pint! 47 years ago, Scad worked at the Commercial Inn. He is delighted to have been asked.
Our opening hours for Friday will be 6 pm- 11pm, then 3-11pm on Saturday. Going forward, opening times will be 3pm – 11pm Thursday through to Sunday.
The bar is well stocked with a very good selection of wines, local beers (e.g 5 Kingdoms, Wigtown Brewery), spirits from Crafty and Bladnoch distilleries, plus Scottish beers, Belhaven Best and Black, and West 4. We have ciders and bottled cider and lots of bottled ale. We will be in a position to swap bottled ales that prove popular onto the pumps. We also have gluten free beer, and a wide range of zero alcohol drinks along with a wide range of soft drinks. Coca cola is not yet on an install, but will be available in cans and bottles until the install is complete, ( we turned down the offer of the install to take place on 28th as we felt we would be rather busy that day !) It is very likely that there will be a few teething problems while we all find our feet, so please be kind!
We will have a protocol in place to protect our staff and customer safety. The Wigtown Ploughman will be a warm and friendly pub and welcome to all, including well behaved dogs ( and owners !) and children accompanied by a responsible adult. The beer garden looks fantastic and is a real sun trap. We had a kind donation from Causeway Nursery of some plants which look great. We will possibly have a gazebo available and will have Smidge on hand for those that need it. There is potential in the future for a BBQ event. The rough land at the rear entrance to the beer garden will be tidied up and there is a potential in the future that this can be purchased and the garden extended.
Once funding allows, we are hoping to offer apprenticeships in hospitality .
It was also mentioned that we will be calling an AGM in the future whereby the current committee will step down and members can put themselves forward for election. Current committee members may also put themselves forward for re-election.
6. Date and time of next Members’ meeting
Date of next meeting is to be April 28th
7. Member questions, ideas, and AOB
Q- Hiring of staff, how did that go?
A- 8 interviews were conducted during the last week with a good mix of applicants. Today 3 of the 4 people that we have offered positions to. All of the hours that the bar is open will be covered by paid staff. Julie Willan is currently the premises license holder . All staff will be trained on the systems and will be expected to give a high level of service. Mandatory training to work behind the bar will be taken. We are planning a trial run on Thursday 27th to cover all aspects of what we anticipate will be required including Health and Safety and fire drills. The Committee will be available to step in as needed, but we wish the paid staff to be empowered to do their job and to ask for help rather than the committee taking control. There is a potential to extend hours if the staff wish to do so.
Q- Lounge – will it be available to book for meetings.
A- Yes, booking will be available. U3A has asked if they can share our postal address which we have agreed. The core hours of the Lounge will be 11-3 Monday to Friday, but outwith these hours, the space can be booked for clubs/meetings.
Q- What plans for extending the Accommodation and Dining?
A- a subcommittee has been formed who are costing out plans for refurbishing. A SOSE hospitality expert has been to visit and has estimated spend per room would be around £8k to achieve what the committee would like to do. (Context provided after the meeting – this figure also included redoing the bathrooms which wouldn’t be necessary in our scenario) The final decision will be based on financial viability. The kitchen refurb is much more involved and more expensive to be transformed so the likelihood is that the food offering will be in 2 phases with a light offering initially of Eg, pizza . This is likely to involve sectioning off the kitchen . In the future the kitchen will be completed and possibly expanded. There will be a kitchen committee, as it has been proven that having a bar committee worked successfully. We are confident that we will have some sort of food offering by the time of the Book Festival. In the interim, we are collating local information on takeaway foods in the area and are happy for people to order and consume their purchases on the premises.
Q- Update on the bar manager and residential flat.
A- we will be taking quite a bit of time for the appointment of a bar manager. There will be a closing date for applications, as yet undecided. It is not yet decided whether the flat will be offered as part of a package, as it may be a better source of income to let it as holiday accommodation – we will have more of an idea at the next meeting.
Q- when is the hot chocolate machine going to be ready!
A- it is awaiting service and commissioning so we are waiting to contact the engineer. We may use a backup in place.
Dave gave thanks to Craig for steering the ship, being level headed and doing so much.
Meeting was closed at 9.30pm