More Than A Pub National Conference

We are delighted to announce the date and venue for our More Than a Pub programme’s national conference on Thursday 18 May 2017 at Coin Street Conference Centre.

We will be joined by our project partners and experts from the sector to ensure our delegates receive a valuable day packed full with excellent training and advice, networking with other community pubs and a chance to meet a wide range of stakeholders and supporters from the community pub sector.

Who should attend?

• Start-up groups through to groups in the final stages of buying or starting a pub business

• Societies applying for grant and loan investment through the More Than A Pub programme (please note that you do not have to be receiving support through our programme to attend).

Agenda for the day

If you would like to download a copy of the agenda (TBC), please follow this link.

Workshop sessions

We are pleased to have experts from across the co-operative pub sector running afternoon workshop sessions at 1.30pm - 2.15pm and 2.30pm - 3.15pm. The below workshops will repeat, so please read the descriptions carefully before choosing which two you would like to attend:

1. How to be More Than a Pub: What difference will your pub make in your community? - presented by Power To Change, Renaisi and Key Fund

Community owned pubs can create positive change in their local communities, and to qualify for support under the More than a Pub programme, you’ll need a clear plan for doing this. Community pubs are now offering a wide range of services including walking groups, councillor surgeries, post offices, choirs, health checks, book clubs, internet training and more. Come to this workshop to plan how to meet the needs in your community, how to work this into your business plan, and secure support.

2. Gearing up to open - presented by representatives from The Anglers' Rest, Derbyshire

This workshop will explore the key steps required leading up to purchasing and then opening your Community Pub Business and will explore the differences in approach between a Managed and Tenanted Pub.

3. Finance unwrapped - presented by Co-operative & Community Finance and Co-operative Mutual Solutions Limited

This workshop will explore what Social Investment is, help you to understand how Community Shares and Tax Relief work and explain how investment through More than a Pub can help your group secure the future of your local!

4. Citizen Power: Attracting and harnessing your community – presented by Locality

In this workshop we will be providing some tips on how to attract and keep your community engaged during long campaigns through the use of three forms of communications: talking, writing and face to face – and the different platforms and ways you can utilise each of these methods. We’ll also be discussing what to do once you have community support for your campaign, and how to create a steering committee to move from campaigning to ownership of a local pub with some case studies.

You can book your first choice for each workshop session during the booking process.

Please note that this is a free event, but as places are limited, there will be a small charge of £25 for non-attendance. Please book online by clicking the green 'tickets' button'. In order to help with the practical arrangements of the day, please confirm your attendance via the online booking page by 4pm on Monday 15 May.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter by using #MTAP17 when sharing news before and during the event.

More than a pub: The Community Pub Business Support Programme is a unique two year programme established to help support community ownership of pubs in England.