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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Shares or donation?
If you buy shares you become a member of the society and have a say in what we do!
Donations are also very welcome – it would be great if you could specify that your donation is for building work/refurbishment.
What’s this tax credit thing?
There may be tax relief for you through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. We have applied to HMRC for approval. If approval is received you should get 50% of the amount you paid to buy shares as a tax credit to offset against income tax paid in this year or last year (or both). So a share investment of £1,000 could end up costing only £500 after tax credit is received.
We will advise when we hear back from HMRC if the offer qualifies but you should take personal tax advice and/or use the link in the prospectus to confirm what tax credits are available to you.
Do I get a dividend from my shares?
The Management Committee has the discretion to pay a small amount of interest on shares. There is no intention to do this in the short term.
Can I get my share money back?
Under the rules of the society you must hold your shares for at least three years. If, after that, you need your money back you can apply to withdraw your shares. This will be at the discretion of the Management Committee and it is likely that there will not be sufficient funds available, at least in the medium term, to handle large scale withdrawals.
What’s in it for me?
You get a shop in the village! If you buy shares you also have voting rights and therefore have a say about who is on the committee and what happens to the shop profit. For house owners there is also the increase in house value associated with having a shop in the village.
Will I get more votes if I hold more shares?
No. The rules of the society state “1 person 1 vote” however many shares you have bought.
Will everyone know how much I have put in?
No – only the Treasurer and the Secretary will have access to this information (and, by request, the Financial Conduct Authority).
Your name and share holding will be on an official register of members of the Community Benefit Society (Bishop Wilton Community Shop Ltd) – this is a legal document but it is password protected and cannot be seen except by the Treasurer and the Secretary.
What happens to the shop profits?
Profits must go back into the shop or the community. If we make more profit than we need to run the shop the extra will be put back into the community and/or used to pay a small amount of interest on shares.
Who decides what happens to the profits?
This decision is made by the committee (but, don’t forget, the shareholders vote in the committee). This would always be discussed at the AGM so all shareholders will be able to have their say.
How might the management committee change in the future?
The current management committee will all retire at the first Annual General Meeting of the society. Those who want to stand again for election may do so together with any others who are nominated for election. Shareholders (members of the Community Benefit Society) will be able to nominate, be nominated and vote in this election.
Will volunteers get training?
Yes. There is wide range of training to be undertaken by the volunteers eg food handling, Health and Safety, first aid, working the till (EPOS). There will also be some volunteer events to get to know each other and find out what it is all about.
How long will volunteer shifts be?
3 ¼ hours is the planned shift length at the moment but you could choose to do two or more shifts in succession.
Can I pick who I work with?
Yes – you request your shift times and patterns and, if you want to work with someone just tell us. There will be an online rota system which you could access from home IF you wanted to.
Could I request the same shift(s) every week?
Definitely – that makes things easy for everyone, but equally you could have different shifts each week or just be a “stand in” for when people on the rota are unable to work.
Supposing I don’t want to do regular shifts?
That is fine too – just tell us when you are available.
Sometimes it is really useful to have a bank of flexible workers who can step in at short notice.
What if I make a mistake whilst working in the shop?
Right from the start we have adopted a “no blame” culture – we all work together and we are all responsible for our mistakes!
I am really worried about being on my own in the shop?
You won’t be! There will be a minimum of two people on every shift.
Who is going to do all the ordering?
It is likely that there will be Lead Volunteers who will work with one or two committee members … eventually we may have a part time shop manager who could take on this role.
Who is going to decide what is stocked in the shop?
You – and the lead volunteers/committee/shop manager. We already have the information you gave us when we sent the questionnaires round last August. Some decisions are already starting to be made – the first opportunity to do this is at “A Taste of Things To Come”. This event, on Wednesday May 15th 7pm at the village hall, will showcase many local suppliers and give us the opportunity to sample some of their products. Come along then give us your feedback and any other ideas. If you have ideas NOW about local suppliers let us know -e mail us at bishopwiltonshop@gmail .com If there are specific groceries/other items that you would definitely want to buy from the shop let us know. There will be a “suggestions” book in the shop (and on line as well) which everyone is encouraged to write in – let us know what you would like to see!
What sort of things will be stocked?
- Everyday basic groceries – plenty of them
- Fresh fruit and veg
- Meats/fish from local suppliers
- Nice bread and bakery items
- A wide range of items from local producers
- Stationery/nice cards/gift wrap etc
- Newspapers
- Tobacco products
- Pies/pasties/sandwiches
- Beers/wines/spirits
- And MUCH more…
Will there be a full PO?
Not to start with! We will stock stamps and we will be a parcel drop off/collection point. We would also like to provide a voluntary PO “run” to Bugthorpe to help people who cannot get to a PO… we need to work out how this might work.
Will there be newspapers?
Yes – we intend to sell newspapers.
If somebody decides to sue the shop (if they fall over for example) could I end up being liable/having to pay extra?
No – as a shareholder you have limited liability so will not be liable for any such events. We will also have liability insurance to protect the shop.
I don’t really want to volunteer to work in the shop but I am quite happy doing other things – what sort of volunteering could I do?
Cleaning…. PO runs… shopping/cash and carry… Maintenance…. Book-keeping…. Gardening… if you can think of something we might need please offer your services!
Why do we need to raise so much money?
The money is needed for a variety of things: volunteer training, stocking the shop, refurbishment and fitting. A large proportion of the money is for the building costs. By opening out the current premises a much bigger space will be created which will mean that there is a greater opportunity for selling goods and services as well as creating space for the community to use.
EXCITING NEWS!
The opportunity has arisen to buy the village shop building. A third party has agreed to purchase the shop and to lease it to the community on favourable terms.
After much groundwork we are now ready to move into the next, very exciting, stage… fundraising!
We need to raise over £50,000, very quickly, so that, once the purchase is completed, we can start refurbishing and then stocking the shop. It would be great to be able to open the Bishop Wilton Community Shop in autumn.
Please come to one of our LAUNCH MEETINGS to find out more:
On Wednesday 24th April in Bishop Wilton Village Hall 4pm or 7pm
You can download the Share Prospectus, our business plan, Code of Conduct and Model rules here:
THE NEXT STEPS…
Since our open meeting in November your shop committee has been really busy laying the groundwork for the next stage…
We are now in the process of setting up a Community Benefits Society (CBS) which will be the company for the shop. Once this is set up, we will then be able to sell shares in the shop at just £10 each. Along with this, work has already started on the business plan and work continues on the location.
Susan has been working hard on identifying and starting applications for grant funding from various sources for the project as a whole.
Annina (Chair) and Sally (Vice Chair) were interviewed on local radio station Vixen 101 about the project.
We will soon be announcing a Volunteer Event: anyone who has already signed up, or is interested in volunteering on any level, can come along, find out more and meet other volunteers. We are planning to have a speaker and you can find out what is involved, as well as how other shops thrive with their volunteering community.
If you would like to register your interest or have something to offer, we would love to hear from you.
Our email is: bishopwiltonshop@gmail.com or telephone Louise Butcher on: 369589
WHERE ARE WE NOW… AND WHAT’S NEXT?
We’ve come a long way since a little idea from Annina Diston sparked it all back in July. On Sunday 18th November 2018 we had an open village meeting to make it all official. Thank you to everyone who turned out to support the project and make this meeting happen including Ian Young from the Parish council who facilitated the meeting.
Since July, an informal group, growing from five to eight, has been taking the project forward with a lot of groundwork and research and it all became official at the open meeting with the village unanimously electing to go ahead with the shop project, an official committee and adopting a constitution for the Bishop Wilton Shop Project Group.
The Bishop Wilton Shop Project Group is something which all are welcome (and encouraged) to join. This may mean that you simply support the shop project or you want to get more involved, all levels of interest are welcome. The group members will be part of some of the decision making process and be the support needed to bring the project to fruition.
So, introducing your new, official Bishop Wilton Shop Project Group Committee…
Left to right front row: Louise Butcher (Chair) with skills in education, public speaking and organising, Annina Diston (the one who started it all!) with skills in design and marketing, Sally Smith (Vice Chair) with skills in media, event organising and education. Middle row: Ruth Rowland with skills in business, Liz Collins (Secretary) with secretarial and organisational skills, Susan Frost with skills in fundraising. Back row: David Gaskin (Treasurer) with skills in accountancy.
The next steps are now to do feasibility studies on various location options and work up a business plan in order to make this happen! We’ll keep you updated.
If you would like to register your interest or have something to offer we would love to hear from you. Our email is: bishopwiltonshop@gmail.com
or telephone Louise Butcher on: 369589
CONSTITUTION
In order to continue the process, which would lead to the realisation of a community shop in Bishop Wilton, we need a more formal organisational structure. At the meeting on the 18th November we need to decide if we really want to progress with the project.
If so, we will:
• Adopt a constitution
• Elect a committee
If you would like to see a copy of the constitution it is available here for viewing, or on the notice-board near the post box, at the village hall and on our website bwcommunityshop.co.uk. You can also pick up a hard copy from an envelope on the garage door of Dray Cottage (next door to 2 Main Street).
PUBLIC MEETING 18th NOVEMBER
Back in the summer we distributed a questionnaire about the possibility of having a community shop in Bishop Wilton. The response was very positive! Since then, a group of seven of us have been working hard on this idea: we are now ready to hold the public meeting and to make the project official. We will be delivering leaflets to every household in Bishop Wilton and the surrounding villages, containing information about the meeting, which will be held on Sunday November 18th at 4pm in the village hall.
Please don’t hesitate to contact one of us if you would like to know more (all contact details are on the leaflet).
Hoping to see you on November 18th!
*Please note that children are welcome*
QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS
As you can see, we now have a shiny new logo alongside a presence on Facebook and Twitter.
Currently, we have a small, informal working group for getting the ball rolling, but there will soon be a second public meeting, hopefully with some speakers from organisations, where we as a community can formalise an elected committee and recruit volunteers on all levels to move the project forward. In these early and informal stages we have been able to collect information from the questionnaire, visit other community shops in the area as well as familiarise ourselves with the process of opening a community shop and applying for membership of the Plunkett Foundation.
Details of the meeting will be communicated via the village notice board, the website, Facebook and Twitter pages as well as our email list where people have provided us with and email address via the questionnaire form.
Location, location, location is also high on the list of priorities as no premises confirmed as yet and at this stage we are still welcoming ideas whilst exploring the options we have. Please get in touch, if you have any suggestions.
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who replied to the paper or online questionnaires over the summer. The results show that almost all the responses think that having a shop is important or very important.
