Shares have gone on sale to the public in a bid to raise up to 拢520,000 and bring Plymouth鈥檚 former Millennium nightclub and cinema building back into use as a music venue and business hub.
Nudge Community Builders, the social enterprise which bought the vast Union Street building in 2020, has launched a community share offer with a minimum target of 拢285,000.
The maximum that can be raised, with shares starting at 拢50 each, is 拢520,000 but ideally Nudge would be happy with 拢500,000. However, the appeal, on the Crowdfunder website, must hit 拢285,000 by December 6, 2021, to continue.
Up to 拢70,000 can be pledged by each individual investor and the shares promise a return of 3.6%. A minimum investment of 拢50 per person is required and within hours of the offer going live it had 拢4,750 from just six investors. The Crowdfunder page can be found .
Nudge is working with partners at London-based workspace developer Eat Work Art, which has already renovated run-down buildings in London and Plymouth, to bring the enormous pile back into use.
Nudge bosses have said the first businesses could be operating from the building by mid-2022 as work continues on creating a music venue in the main auditorium. The overall project could cost up to 拢4m.
Nudge said that by raising 拢500,000 of community share investment it would enable the repayment of money borrowed to buy the building and also go towards having the ground floor of the gigantic pile in use by 2022.
It is planning a phased development:
Phase 1: The main ground floor space will be repaired and servicing provided to allow for independent businesses with a focus on suitable commercial uses that complement the wider ambitions for the building and create local jobs.
Phase 2: The front portion of the ground floor will be given over to public-facing uses, such as independent makers or a public art gallery and servicing the wider building with toilets, etc.
Nudge said the first floor ancillary space is ideally suited to daytime use as a caf茅, serving the public and tenants renting work-spaces below; whilst in the evening this would become a bar that serves the main auditorium.
The existing auditorium will be repaired and sympathetically renovated, being careful to retain the layers of history reflected in the building fabric. This is capable of providing a 1,500 capacity music venue 鈥渟omething which Plymouth sorely lacks鈥.
Phase 3: The top floor is linked to the caf茅 space via the south eastern staircase and so could form part of the same use, alternatively it could offer an opportunity for a landmark venue.
Nudge said it needs the investment because it was supported in its purchase of the building by the charitable Rank Foundation, which has a long association with the building from its cinema days, and Power to Change, the organisation supporting hundreds of community businesses across the country.
鈥淭his put us in a position to be able to secure the building quickly after many years of negotiating and failed attempts to secure it,鈥 Nudge said. 鈥淲e are now running a community share offer to pay back the short-term financial support we took on from the Rank Foundation to buy the building and to give us a working budget to make quick progress.鈥
This is the same approach Nudge took to buying the former Union Street pub The Clipper and Nudge said such share offers are important because it creates 鈥渢he collective ownership鈥 and 鈥渢he buy-in that makes a Nudge building feel different to other places and businesses鈥.
It said: 鈥淭his is a major project and a collective approach is key to making it a success. We know that many of you were really frustrated that this building was standing empty, we know there is a city need for the uses we propose.
鈥淲e want you to be more than part of the audience and feel part of bringing the building back to life, it is going to cost a lot of money and we鈥檇 prefer to pay a return to investors that care about how we approach things and what we do.鈥
Nudge said people should 鈥減lease only invest what you can afford鈥 and added: 鈥淲e want this to be a good investment - not only do you become part of the journey, you can also get up to 3.6% on your investment.鈥
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It described community shares as 鈥渁 great way to support things to happen in your community鈥 and said: 鈥淵ou invest your money in a social enterprise that puts your money to good use, and you get a return on your investment as well as a social return to the local community. Community shares is a user-friendly name for withdrawable, non-transferable share capital, which is unique to co-operative and community benefit societies.鈥
A recent report published by Co-ops 海角视频 found that since 2012, 拢155m has been raised by 104,203 people to support more than 440 businesses, and 92% of businesses that have raised finance with community shares are still trading.
Nudge is a Community Benefit Society created in 2017 and run by residents living in Stonehouse, with a mission to upgrade the once notorious Union Street into 鈥渁 street the whole world loves鈥. It said it has already made a 鈥渞eal visible difference to the street, running The Clipper, for which it raised 拢206,000 from more than 150 investors, The Plot, Union Corner and pop-up street activity.
