The Cheese and Grain has secured a £25,000 ‘Community Builders’ grant from the Social Investment Business.
The grant will meet the cost of employing an architect, quantity surveyor, structural and electrical engineers, to design and identify the cost of transforming the Cheese and Grain’s mezzanine into a suite of four meeting rooms for hire.
Steve Macarthur, the Cheese and Grain’s general manager, says he will be asking the architect to look into how the entrance lobby can be redesigned so that it leads straight into the bar and café. Ideally, he says, he would like to re-arrange the layout so that the café and bar can open without opening up and heating the entire building.
The grant will also be used to create a new web site that people can visit to see what the completed scheme will look like.
The Social Investment Business, which is funded by central government, commercial investors and banks, described the Cheese and Grain’s proposal and accompanying business plan as “outstanding.” With the grant comes an offer of a ‘soft’ fixed loan of up to £250,000 to carry out the works.
The next step is appointing the architect. Steve says he hopes the work will go to a local company. The Cheese and Grain is now asking local architectural practices to submit expressions of interest. More details will be available soon on the Cheese and Grain website www.cheeseandgrain.co.uk
