Downing Crowd seeks to raise £1.82m

The White Hart is based in Ampthill, Bedfordshire and is currently leased to Oakman Inns and Restaurants.

Downing Crowd has a strong relationship with Oakman Inns and Restaurants, having previously raised almost £10m worth of funding for its pub restaurants.

The White Hart has been under operation by Oakman since April 2015 on a leasehold basis.

The £1.82m bond will be used to repay part of a funding package, which was used to acquire the freehold for the pub.

The property and land for the site – subject to the current lease to Oakman Inns and Restaraunts – was valued at £2.6m.

The asset-backed crowd bond offers investors the chance to earn 7% pa interest over a period of up to 23 months.

The bond will hold a first charge over the site, which will result in Downing being given priority over other lenders should the borrower default.

Peter Borg-Neal, founder and CEO of Oakman Inns and director of Oakman Bedfordshire Holdings Limited (pictured above), said: “Crowdfunding investors have provided invaluable debt funding support for a number of our freehold pubs.

“We’re delighted to be working with Downing Crowd again on this latest project.

“The White Hart is a superb property that boasts a variety of warm, friendly spaces for like-minded individuals to meet over quality food and drink as well as a function room and eight bedrooms.

“It has considerable potential for further development and we are very pleased to have acquired such a high-quality freehold in what is clearly a good location.”