Community expected to complete Loxley pub purchase within weeks

The Fox at Loxley is expected to be sold within the next month, heralding the start of a new era as a community-run pub.

Last year villagers launched a mammoth fundraising appeal to buy the pub, after its owners EI Group announced their intention to sell.

The community managed to raise an amazing £250,000 which along with an additional loan and grant funding gave them the £290,000 to buy the building.

Unfortunately the sale has been delayed by the coronavirus and it was only earlier this month that pubs were allowed to welcome customers back, provided social distancing measures are followed.

However negotiations at the Fox restarted in recent weeks, with the Fox at Loxley Action Group even managing to negotiate an additional £10,000 reduction in the sale price to £280,000.

The Action Group is now hopeful that the sale will go through within the next 3-4 weeks.

Paul Jennings, chair of the Fox at Loxley Action Group, said: “We have always been focussed on the long term and the lower price gives us the option to have an extended period of time to do the redecoration and to get the Fox looking great and ready to open as a Community pub for all of us.

“We still have a few legal steps to take, but we are excited that we are now close to all becoming owners of the Fox at Loxley, where we can celebrate our community spirit in the traditional Village pub that will remain as a wonderful community asset for many years to come.”

The Action Group wants the Fox to serve as a meeting place for community groups and to become a hub of village life.

As part of the proposal the pub will house a café and it is anticipated that the land to the rear could be used as a community growing space.

Loxley Parish Council’s decision to register the Fox as a community asset certainly helped the action group, as it provided six months for villagers to come up with a proposal to run the business themselves before the property was placed on the open market.