Deli's future

Fri 28 Feb, 16:52

As Oscar Wilde might have put it, the only thing worse than being talked about publicly is not being talked about publicly!

It’s great that people are interested in the D&C’s future.  For those who don’t know, the D&C is set up as a simple private company but has over 100 shareholders – who’ve never received a dividend – and the directors (of whom I’m currently Chair) have always been volunteers.  So we can legitimately say it’s been community owned and community run, since 1991. 

That said, our first duty is to the shareholders, hotly followed of course by the staff and customers.  So that’s why we need to report to them first – which we have now done - though as I said in the winter edition of the Chronicle, it’s no secret that our lease has only a little over 2 years to run and we’re engaged in talks over a possible move out of the Old Bank House.

Those talks are continuing and we are increasingly optimistic of a positive outcome – but it’s too early to go public on them just yet.  As I seem to remember a recent PM (there’s been so many I can’t remember which) saying, they wouldn’t report on Brexit negotiations every 5 minutes – it’s delicate!  But the shareholders will be the first to be informed once we have a firm proposal to put to them and nothing will be decided without their involvement. 

In the meantime, we’ll aim to hold a second meeting of the ‘Friends of the Deli & Café’ before Easter, if only so we can order in some suitable wines to go with the roast lamb (vegetarian alternatives no doubt available) and chocolate (preferably dark and mysterious in my case…).  And if you haven’t been in lately, you will find lots of other new seasonal stock items and plenty of delicious treats on offer for enjoying with friends, whether for breakfast, coffee, lunch or tea.

Fri 28 Feb, 16:31

The deli is lt a secret society. This is a much loved Charlbury institution and I’m sure most of us shareholders want our loyal supporters and customers to know what we are doing. Barring  Confidential matters  we should be as open as possible on our future. 

Fri 28 Feb, 13:29

Why can't the public know about the Deli's future?

Thu 27 Feb, 20:54

I am disappointed that this has been brought into the public domain; I would’ve thought it was a matter for discussion  between shareholders and directors.

Thu 27 Feb, 10:17

We'll be issuing a shareholder update shortly.  It's been delayed largely by my absence abroad for a few weeks - and the birth of a new grandson! 

Thu 27 Feb, 08:57

As a shareholder of the Deli does anyone know what is happening?  Last September at a shareholders meeting when a new strategy was approved we were promised regular feedback.