Villagers have raised £462,000 of the £800,000 needed to buy Danehill's Coach and Horses. Shares start at £250 and the offer is due to close on 15 November.

Villagers trying to buy the Coach and Horses in Danehill have raised £462,000 of the £800,000 they need, and their community share offer has a target close date of Sunday 15 November. Mims Davies, MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, visited the pub and is urging residents to invest before then.

The pub on School Lane has been open since 1847. It went on the market in July, and the Danehill Chelwood Gate Community Benefit Society, the group behind the Keep Coach & Horses Local campaign, has made an offer. Its offer has been accepted subject to contract, with exclusivity until 30 November, the campaign says.

How much has been raised

The MP’s office said the campaign had reached 55% of its £800,000 threshold “in a matter of weeks”. The campaign’s own website, when we checked it on 5 November, gave these figures:

  • £462,000 raised as of 1 November, against an £800,000 threshold
  • more than 225 investors so far
  • £84,000 in outstanding pledges
  • an average investment of £3,000 per household
  • more than £166,000 raised at the launch on 18 October

Investors have come from Danehill and Chelwood Gate, across Mid Sussex, “and as far as the US, Denmark and Hong Kong”, her office said.

The campaign says the pub is on the market at a guide price of £695,000. The £800,000 would cover the freehold, stamp duty, fees, refurbishment, opening stock and working capital, so the society would not need to borrow. It is aiming to exchange contracts in January 2027.

The Coach and Horses in Danehill, a stone and brick building with a slate roof, tall chimneys and a gabled porch, behind a lawn with a picnic bench and a flowering tree
The Coach and Horses on School Lane, Danehill. Photo: via the Keep Coach & Horses Local campaign

What the MP said

Ms Davies said:

“There are very, very few opportunities that come where you can help shape your community.

Here is one!

For almost 180 years The Coach and Horses have been at the heart of Danehill and is now on the open market. There is an OPEN Community Share Offer and the chance to have a truly independent, local pub open for the next generation for locals and visitors alike.

If you would like to KEEP the Coach and Horses in Danehill local - watch this video and find out more by emailing duane@keepcandhlocal.org. Or visit KeepCandHLocal.org to find out more - there is not much time left for you to join the movement - so please don’t wait!

You can invest (CAPITAL AT RISK) if you want to help make this happen.”

She praised the people running the bid:

“I applaud the fantastic team - cross party, cross-community and non-political - who have stepped up with huge hard work over several months to make this happen. With 2 pubs closing every single day, this if your chance to turn a campaign into an outcome!

I, with all those from my area and wider, wish all the luck in making this happen and grabbing the opportunity to shape the future of this fantastic venue which has been run by a fantastic family for many years who are now retiring.”

The pub-closure figure is hers; her office’s release puts it differently, saying that “across Britain, a pub closes almost every day, but community-owned pubs are thriving”. Neither gave a source.

Why the campaign wants it

The campaign says the Coach and Horses is a profitable business and the last independently run pub in a parish of about 1,800 people. Without a community bid, it says, the pub could go to a national pub company or brewery chain, a developer wanting a change of use, or an unknown private owner.

Her office said that in community hands it could become “a hub for the whole parish: a home for clubs and societies, events for families and older residents, and a warm welcome for walkers and cyclists on the edge of Ashdown Forest”. It pointed to two other Sussex villages that have done the same thing: East Hoathly, where the Kings Head is now community-owned, and Barcombe.

How the shares work

According to the campaign’s shareholder information:

  • you can invest from £250 to £50,000, in multiples of £250, as an individual, a business or an organisation
  • every member gets one vote, whatever the size of their holding
  • no interest is paid for the first three years; after that it is at the board’s discretion and comes only from profits
  • shares can be withdrawn at the price paid after three years, with notice
  • if the offer falls short of its minimum, investors get their money back in full
  • the society has applied for SEIS/EIS tax relief, which it puts at about 36.25%, but says this is not guaranteed

The campaign is working with Plunkett UK, the charity that supports community-owned businesses.

The capital is at risk. Community shares are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service, and you could lose some or all of the money you put in. The campaign asks anyone thinking of investing to read the share prospectus and business plan first.

How to apply, and when to go along

Download the shareholder application form, fill it in and email it to info@keepcandhlocal.org, or hand it in at the pub.

Members of the steering committee are at the Coach and Horses, School Lane, Danehill RH17 7JF, every Wednesday from 7pm to 9pm to answer questions. The last Wednesday session before the target close date is on 11 November. The campaign is holding a Shareholder Close Event at the pub on Sunday 15 November at 5pm.

Updates are posted on the campaign’s Instagram and Facebook group. The Sussex Express covered the launch of the bid in August.

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