Charlbury Deli & Cafe
For the uninitiated, the Charlbury Deli & Café was set up as a limited company in 1991 (then ka The Good Food Shop) by a group of people, as I’ve always understood it, who simply wanted the town to have such a facility. It has always been run more as a community enterprise than in the expectation of private profit, with paid managers and staff but volunteer directors.
Faced with financial difficulties in 2016/17, a new group of directors came forward, including me, and funds were raised through a second share issue. The business then moved, enthusiastically and energetically, into the Old Bank House on Market Street.
As you may be aware, with the end of our lease in sight, we moved into the Corner House in November last year. The shareholders voted before Christmas to aim to convert the company into a Community Benefit Society (CBS), a far more sensible structure for a community based enterprise. It would also be far more in keeping with the new location. With the use of the garden and newly refurbished reading room it has enormous potential, with any profits going to support both the Corner House itself and other local charitable causes.
But sadly the company is currently faced with similar difficulties as in 2016/17 – one major difference being that despite several attempts to find new directors, this time no-one has come forward. Instead, we have an advisory team but only one director – me. I really need to stand down for personal reasons and have given notice to the shareholders that I intend to do so come what may on 31 March (postponed once already from 31/12).
The company’s poor financial position also means we are not currently able to go for conversion, even assuming one (or ideally more) new directors were willing to take over. But there is nothing to prevent other people setting up an entirely new CBS, with members rather than shareholders – and then acquiring the business and/or its assets. We plan to hold an open public meeting to discuss that as soon as we can agree a date (probably with Plunkett UK, a locally based but national charity which supports people in rural areas to set up and run a wide range of businesses in community ownership). So watch out for the date in Events!
In the meantime, we’ll not only be very glad of your custom but if anyone might be willing to stand as a director, even if only as a ‘caretaker’ pending further developments, do please get in touch. The company cannot continue to trade without at least one director so would otherwise have to go into liquidation, with all the difficulties and loss of employment that would entail. Which after 35 years, I think would be a great shame. Charlbury, the choice is yours.
R O Evans
12/02/2026
PS For anyone interested, there is a useful introduction here: https://cwmpas.coop/what-is-a-community-benefit-society