The villagers now turning a profit after buying shares in their local pub to raise £300,000 and stop it being turned into housing development

By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 12:48, 16 May 2026 | Updated: 12:55, 16 May 2026 Villagers who bought £300,000 worth of shares in their local pub to save it from demolition and a new housing development are now turning a profit. Residents in Orleton in Herefordshire clubbed together to raise enough to buy The Boot Inn in January 2019 when it was at risk of being knocked down. About 300 of them invested hard-earned cash and money at the time - with funds being used to renovate the historic pub in the leafy village. Now shareholders claim their slice of the pub is more profitable than leaving the cash in a current account - after investors were offered a tempting 3 per cent interest on their shares. Regular David Harrison, 63, says he is seeing a better return from his investment than his bank after earning £600 in interest a year - equivalent to 109 pints, which would cost him about £430 at the pub. The retired aerospace engineer, who lives four minutes away from the venue, said: 'We have over £10,000 invested in shares here and it's definitely more profitable than a standard bank account. 'You'd be lucky to get a third of that, if any, while we're getting 3 per cent and the pub gets to stays open - that's a win for us. 'The dividend is a lovely bonus, which we reinvest each year into our portfolio. We get £300 twice a year, which is great.' Residents in Orleton in Herefordshire clubbed together to buy The Boot Inn - pictured are community benefit society chairman John Alderman (left) and landlord Chris Thorpe (right) The Community Boot Inn, a community benefit society set up to save the pub, introduced a £250 minimum share value - or five shares - for investors to give opportunity to a broad range of locals. A £1,000 investment would net £30 for the year with the 3 per cent rate - while the same lump sum in a Santander current account at 1.98 per cent would only earn £19.80 in a year. Mr Harrison said: 'Ultimately the pub is very important to me and the village. It's where you meet people, sit and chat. We used it when it was previously owned and they wanted to knock it down to build houses.' He had been among those involved with the group from the start and helped renovate the interior after they 'finally succeeded in securing the place'. Mr Harrison added: 'It was the first and only time I've been in a pub with no beer. 'To me it was very important for the village to maintain having a useable pub and I felt compelled to put a reasonable amount of money into it and help out to get the pub back to a useable standard. 'The benefits of being a shareholder are that you're involved personally while also getting a reasonable dividend. 'We're very happy - it's a success story supported by the local community.' Celebrating the pub's success are shareholders including (left to right) Dave Harrison, John Alderman and Terry Tandler The Boot Inn had been under threat of demolition before being saved - pictured left to right are Terry Tandler, John Alderman, Chris Thorpe, Guy Holmes-Henderson and Dave Harrison He described how it was a 'very friendly community and pub' and that he visited three times each week.  Fellow investor Guy Holmes-Henderson, 58, a semi-retired landscape gardener, moved to the area around the time of the pub's reopening in August 2019. He said: 'One of the main reasons we moved here was the fact that a community pub, like The Boot, had just opened up. 'It's well supported by the locals, drinkers and eaters, and it's a great place to come in.' He became a shareholder about a year ago, adding: 'I was supporting the pub by my custom before, but now I'm supporting the pub while helping it to keep going. 'I do get paid some interest, which is nice. It's far better than a standard account, which nets you nothing when you add it up. 'You're getting bricks and mortar. I'm the pub gardener so I take pride in getting the garden done knowing that I'm a shareholder.' Local Terry Tandler, 74, a retired handyman, added: 'It's much better than keeping your money in the bank - and we're helping the tax man as well, he's struggling. The previously threatened pub sits in the village of Orleton in Herefordshire The Community Boot Inn, a community benefit society set up to save the pub, introduced a £250 minimum share value - or five shares - for investors 'We get to buy extra beer as well. We get interest, but we get to keep the pub open at the same time, have a pint of beer and enjoy singing and music. I come at least once a week, maybe more.' Under the scheme the shares are not transferable and will not change in value, but can be withdrawn. Community Boot Inn chairman John Alderman, 68, said: 'It's an attractive proposition. 'We bought the place in January 2019, we then had six months of redevelopment, then we had six months of trading before Covid hit. 'The pub had been shuttered in June 2017 where the guy who owned it wanted to develop it as a building plot. 'He shut it and put it into liquidation - we were worried that he would use it to clear the debts and then buy it back. 'The minimum offering was five shares at £50 each. I was damned if I was going to pay more in bank fees than interest - that's why we set it at £250. 'We started paying interest after two years, we initially thought three years. We were paying 2 per cent after two years. 'We upped it to 3 per cent in 2025 then everything went mad. As a society, we recommend that the members then vote on it at the AGM. 'When we started paying interest the current accounts were 0.1 per cent. We were at 2 per cent. It's still better than a current account now. Landlord Chris Thorpe now runs the pub, having started working there aged 18 in what was his first job. He recalled: 'I worked my way up to become manager for the original owner who sadly had different opinions of what it should be turned into. 'The community saved it and I came back and my wife and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to run our own business - but with the support of it being community owned.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.