Haha, incred scenes
Best of luck with the new venture, it sounds like it's kicking along nicely.
Cheers Marky
Well after my post about the council delaying the change of use decision I realised I was going into this project underfunded as all the various quotes came in so at that point there was myself and my designer who held 10% and then I was waiting for a final build quote to come in which between myself and the builder who refits coffee shops, kitchens and cafe we came to an equity arrangement in exchange for the build cost coming down it would still have left us on a bit of a shoestring budget until...
I managed to get a pass out to play the WPT and had arranged to meet Ryan Spittles for a pre comp Nando's before we played day1 and despite me travelling further with Ryan in bed 1 mile away at the hotel he was late and when I walked in I looked around and saw Wattsy and Chris Sly sat on a table of four so joined them and we started chatting as I waited for Ryan.
Chris told me that him and Trickett were in the process of looking for a venue to open up a juice bar and I couldnt believe it and being the helpful guy I am said what I had been upto over the past 6 months and I would gladly share my contacts with him and would email him on Saturday when back home and once I had finished day 1 I went to get his email addy from the high stakes room and was introduced to Sam and we chatted for a short while.
I emailed them the next day the plan with contents and really didnt expect anything further until I got a text from them to say they were in and wanted to shelve their plans and buy into this and inquired how much equity was free and after a few days where we met up on site I am please to say that they are now 28% shareholders in the company and whilst I know for them this is just a financial transaction with me unlikely to see them behind the counter ever they bring a lot of other stuff to the table.
I actually thought that was it until the day before I signed the lease I was walking from the solicitors and bumped into a really successful guy who has a recruitment company with over 50 staff working for him who I last saw 3 months earlier when he asked what I was up to and he said he would have loved to BAP but due to personal circumstances couldnt at that time.
3 months on and I told him the lease was signed and I had just tied up the last bit of equity in the company and he wanted in, to which I said there was no room but he badgered me and he actually brings a massive amount to the table in terms of ideas, contacts etc so it was a no brainer to open up a piece and within 48 hours I had seen what he will bring and how we will work together on what should now be a really fun journey with a lot of hard work but an amazing team to take this brand forwards hopefully which is
Me
Dwight the designer & architect etc
Mark on building refits etc
Chris and Sam social media and contacts/ideas etc and intros into the poker/sporting world
Matthew on the business and contacts side
This also meant we start off the project on a better financial footing with over £200k raised and then on Friday we finally completed on this beautiful building at 1 High St, Chelmsford under a 9 year lease with a number of break clauses in our favor starting at year 2
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which looked like this a couple of weeks ago
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And on Thursday looked like this with the builders already under way just doing the ground work and a bit of dry lining etc before the major works start this week on a 4-5 week build before a couple of weeks staff training and a launch sometime towards the 3rd week of July give or take a week.
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I will post updates on here as we grow through the build process but if you have not yet liked us on FB then please click here
https://www.facebook.com/JuiceKitchenChelmsford/ and give us a thumbs up as every little helps, no matter where you may be in the world.
On the family front we had the birth photographer come back and do a few family photos whilst Petra's folks have been staying with us from Slovakia for the past 3 weeks and if you click on the link you will see the best of them which shows the new svelte me and my incredible family
http://heartsandflowersphotography.co.uk/blacklocks-family-shoot/