Grow 'The Crow' with a new kitchen and great food

We were excited to be able to reopen the old Greyhound Inn back in December 2018. The Dog (as it was known) had been closed for sometime and was in a sorry state. With the help of the property owner this old dog was given a new lease of life after a significant investment on refurbishment and renovation. The Dog needed a new name to go with it's new image and after a lot of thought we decided on The Crow Bar & Kitchen.

We spent 2019 getting to know the area, the locals, lots of interesting suppliers and others pubs, bars and restaurants. This allowed us to grow the business and save funds towards the cost of a brand new catering kitchen to add the final part of the business. At the start of 2020 we started the final planning for the project and just before COVID caused the country to go in to lockdown we were ready to go.

The 20th March will be a day we will never forget as having to close the doors then was the start of a tumultuous period for our business. All our plans and ideas for the kitchen and the great opportunities for The Crow Bar quickly disappeared with each week that we had to remain closed to 'stay home, protect the NHS, save lives' took us further away from realising our vision. 

By June we were able to work with our chosen contractor to agree for work to commence and the terms were agreed and the 50% deposit was paid. We were excited to have a start date of mid June with all work to be completed ready for early July. This seemed even more perfect when the government announced that hospitality businesses like ours would be able to reopen on 4th July. 

Unfortunately for us that wasn't meant to be. The contractor let us down and work didn't start until late July and progress was extremely slow. We paid the next 20% instalment on 4th August but we have not seen the contractor on site since. We had many different reasons from the contractor why this was but ultimately we believe he has no intention of returning to finish or to return our money. As you can imagine this has been heartbreaking for us personally and devastating for the business. We have reported the contractor to Action Fraud but that doesn't mean our money will be returned any time soon.

To survive the impact of COVID on our business we need to move forward and ask for everyones help in raising funds to get a new contractor appointed and to 'Grow The Crow'. We feel that we have a great bar already, great drinks, great prices, great staff and having the amazing food we had planned will make us an even better place to meet friends and family after COVID and to enjoy time with your household and bubble right now.

Please help us 'Grow The Crow' and support us in our efforts to raise funds to get our kitchen and offer some great opportunities for local people to join our team. We intend to regularly support the local food banks and offer support for people training in catering and hospitality with part time opportunities to gain experience whilst learning.