Press Releases

The Wigtown Ploughman is Scotland’s newest community-owned pub. It’s led by a Management Committee of ten volunteers who are part of the Wigtown Community Inn Community Benefit Society. We have been working this past year to secure funding for the building, which has been empty for three years and was at risk of being lost as a community asset. We were fortunate enough that SOSE (South of Scotland Enterprise) approved our funding request to enable the purchase of the building for £330,000, and we finally got the keys on Valentines Day, 2025.

We’ve since had an army of volunteers working hard behind the scenes, and amazing local businesses donating pieces of equipment, providing brilliant trade services, and working together all to get the pub up and running and open to the public. We also have nearly 450 Members of the society who have been a massive source of support, feedback, and ideas. They have also invested in the project and raised £31,234 when our Community Share Offering closed earlier in March. That has enabled the project to progress as rapidly as it has. We’ll also be a “Real Living Wage” employer and have just had the first round of interviews for bar staff and are hoping to announce the first employees very soon.

Our opening night is planned for 6pm on Friday 28th March, and we are honoured and delighted to have a very special guest joining us. Wigtown local hero David McAdam MBE, warmly known as Scad to everyone in the community, will be joining us to pour the first ceremonial pint. Scad worked in the pub in the 1970s when it was called The Commercial Inn, and is thrilled to be back behind the bar once again! The Wigtown Ploughman will thereafter be open from Thursday through to Sunday, 3pm – 11pm, and we will look to expand our opening hours as the year progresses.

This project is more than just a pub, however. The same building will also be used as a community space from Monday-Friday, 11am – 3pm, affectionately called The Lounge. We’re hoping to open The Lounge from the 14th April if we have enough volunteers to help be stewards of that space. It will be a welcoming, free-to-access place where people can come to stay warm, connect with others, enjoy a hot drink, play boardgames, read the newspaper, or just relax and feel at home away from home. There is free WiFi for those who would also like to stay digitally connected. It will be run by a group of exceptional volunteers who will do their best to make visitors feel welcome. Outside the regular Lounge opening hours (and when the bar is closed or quiet), the space can also be booked by members of the community or social groups. Beyond physical warmth, the warm space will also provide a sense of belonging, safety, and community.

Kirsten Logue, Community Development Specialist at SOSE said:

“SOSE is delighted to support the acquisition of The Wigtown Ploughman.

The high level of engagement from local volunteers, businesses, members, and community shareholders is a fantastic demonstration of the power of community-led enterprise.

SOSE continues to support the Community Benefit Society with support and guidance and looks forward to working with them as they open the Community Space and the lettable rooms.”

We hope to have the accommodation up and running in the coming months, creating further employment opportunities, and our aim is then to design a food offering that entices locals and tourists alike. Our goal is ultimately to foster an environment of excellence and be able to offer hospitality and catering apprenticeships through partnerships with Dumfries and Galloway College.

This community-led project is just getting started, and we plan to be here in the heart of Wigtown for generations to come.

🌹 Roses are red
🪻 Violets are blue
🍻 The Wigtown Ploughman
🍾 Is now owned by you!

We’re absolutely delighted to announce that today the sale of the building has successfully concluded and The Wigtown Ploughman is now owned by the Wigtown Community Inn CBS.

Our next steps include lots of paperwork, many more meetings, and further planning of the intricacies of opening the building up to the community as swiftly and diligently as possible. This is where your help and support are absolutely vital.

Our Community Share Offering is open until the 3rd of March and your investment pledges are the quickest way we can make business commitments and fully open our doors to offer exactly what we’ve been working towards. Please take a moment to find out more about the share offering.

A massive thank you to so many of you who have already pledged over £4,000; we’re humbled and grateful for your trust and support. We understand that not everyone is in a position to support the project financially, and we want you to know that regardless of whether you invest, the building is equally yours to use. It is an asset that belongs to the community and everyone is welcome.

In the coming days we’ll be sharing more details of what’s involved in getting the doors open, and the volunteering efforts we’ll need to get the building upgraded and cleaned. It’s been almost 3 years since it was last open to the public, so there’s plenty of elbow grease needed!

A few other thank yous are in order, for without the support of a small army we would not be in this fortunate position right now:

♥️ Massive thanks to Kirsten and her team at SOSE whose investment has enabled the purchase of the building; their support has been outstanding.
♥️ Thanks to the Plunkett Foundation for their guidance and smaller grants that have enabled surveys and other crucial costs to be covered.
♥️ Thank you to everyone who previously donated before we had a Share Offering in place, it has been critical in showing we have some working capital to pay for things such as insurance.
♥️ Thank you to the many people involved with the numerous forms of fundraising efforts and the community for supporting those efforts.
♥️ Thank you to all Members that have sent messages of support, attended meetings, asked how they can be involved, asked thoughtful questions, and given advice and insights along the way. 
♥️ And a final personal thank you to everyone past, present, and dearly departed on the Management Committee – this project is truly a labour of love and a massive team effort – your dedication is appreciated more than you can ever know.

Our next Members’ Meeting is the 24th of February at 8pm in the Wigtown County Buildings. We hope everyone can join us there whilst we continue to work in the background to prepare the building for its phased opening.

Cheers 🍻

All Members of the Wigtown Community Inn CBS are cordially invited to attend our very first meeting. Details of the meeting are:

When: 2 December 2024, 8pm
Where: County Buildings – Map link

Read more

Wigtown’s Community Inn Community Benefit Society (CBS) has been offered grant funding from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) for the acquisition of the building currently known as the Plough Inn, a centuries-old building in the heart of Wigtown. The CBS is absolutely delighted that SOSE has chosen to fund this project, a major milestone in securing the building for long-term community use. We are thrilled to be preserving this historic inn here in Wigtown, to help the community continue to flourish.

Left to right: Julie Willan, Catherine Brown, Richard Draper, Pennie Cumming and Craig Hamnett – Download high resolution

The CBS is a local, not-for-profit organisation focused on the management and development of this building. Our objectives are: to open the building to promote social gathering; to provide employment and training; to facilitate events and services for the benefit of the local community; to contribute to the development of tourism amenities and the night time economy of the town. The building’s principal commercial aims are: to be an excellent accommodation provider; to offer delicious, affordable, locally-sourced meals; to provide a brilliant family- and dog-friendly bar.

The Wigtown Community Inn Community Benefit Society was formed in March 2024, and originally comprised George Willan, Catherine Brown, Richard Draper, Pennie Cumming, Craig Hamnett and Kevin Witt. George tragically passed away in May, and his death left a void in the community he was so loved by. His wife Julie has recently joined the Management Committee, honouring his memory by continuing to give back to the community with the same energy and commitment her late husband gave. George Moore has also joined the Management Committee as an invaluable Treasurer.

The application process has not been plain sailing, since the announcement of the closure of the fund we had originally been preparing for — the Community Ownership Fund — as a result of the July General Election. A subsequent bid to the Scottish Land Fund failed due to an increasingly competitive funding landscape, but we were buoyed with good feedback and encouraged to apply in 2025. Fearing the historic building may be lost to a permanent change of use, we hedged our bets and turned to SOSE, who had already been pivotal in providing support and advice for the previous applications. A funding bid was submitted for the cost of the building and we were thrilled to find out we had been successful, given such a challenging funding landscape. We cannot thank everyone at SOSE enough. They provide such a professional service, and their kind-natured human approach removed the fear of applying for such a large amount of money.

Russel Griggs OBE, Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise, said: “One of our priorities at SOSE is to support vibrant, resilient and enterprising communities to help tackle the economic and social challenges we face, and help our region to flourish.

“With the support of our Communities team, Wigtown Community Inn CBS is doing exactly that, as they bring a disused building back into use for the benefit of the community as well as contribute to the local economy.

“I look forward to seeing this project progress and the new Inn becoming a real asset for Wigtown.”

The Journey Ahead

After securing the funding for the building, our attention is focused on raising start-up capital to realise the vision we originally presented to the community. We can start small and work towards that vision, but our goal is to get the building open to the public as soon as possible. We’re currently identifying and applying to other relevant funding bodies, in conjunction with putting together a shareholder prospectus to raise money through an initial community share offering, and asking (very politely!) for donations from far and wide to kick-start the business and restore the building to its former glory.

“The pub would provide important economic and social roles which have been missing in Wigtown.”

Dr Jacqui Robertson – ReadingLasses Bookshop & Cafe

There is still much more to do, and many more challenges along the way. Although a lot of research has been done, there are still unknown hurdles to overcome. That’s why we’re encouraging the community to take an active role in becoming members of the Wigtown Community Inn CBS for just £1. This will expand the CBS’s experience profile and inject vital expertise into the conversation, to mitigate some of those unknowns.

Lastly, we have sincere thank yous to give to a number of people outside the CBS that have been pivotal in getting us to this stage: Irene Tilley for invaluable hospitality advice; Kirsten Logue at SOSE for her patience and due diligence; Jack Cooper of the Plough for building access and answering so many questions; George Ogier and Alison Macklin at the Plunkett Foundation, for all their support and encouragement, and the Plunkett Foundation for their grant that paid for the Valuation Survey, and the administrative and legal cost of incorporating the CBS with the FCA. Also, Ailsa Murphy at the Scottish Land Fund, for all her great support and guidance, and the SLF for their Stage 1 grant that paid for the Conditions Survey and the Asbestos Survey.

Also, thank you to all the business owners of Wigtown who have been in touch to either write letters of support or have taken the time to sit down and provide constructive feedback, and, finally, to the community as a whole. We’ve felt the support and encouragement since day one, and that’s been our driving force to restore a much loved building back to its original status.

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For any questions please contact:
Craig Hamnett
Chairperson of the Wigtown Community Inn CBS
hello@wigtown-cbs.co.uk