The moment of truth has arrived for campaigners hoping to turn a Crickhowell town centre pub into a new venue for small shops and flats for local people.

They now need the hundreds of thousands of pounds which have been pledged by local people to be turned into real funds to buy the building.

So far, 180 people have promised around £470,000 to buy and convert The Corn Exchange in Crickhowell High Street – but that money needs to be realised.

More than 120 of those investors attended a meeting, called by the new company which has been formed to buy and convert the building, Corn Exchange Crickhowell Ltd, and heard its Acting Chair, Dean Christy, say ‘the clock is now ticking’.

“We have signed the heads of agreement and we have eight weeks to exchange contracts,” he said.

The meeting was told that Punch Taverns, the owners of The Corn Exchange, were asking for a five per cent deposit on exchange of contracts but Corn Exchange Crickhowell Ltd needs to gather in all the money before going ahead.

Peter Roberts, a local accountant who is acting as an unpaid director for Corn Exchange Crickhowell (CEC) told the meeting, “Before we exchange contracts, we need to know we have enough to buy the building and finish the conversion.”

The meeting was also told that strict laws governing the collection of money from the public prevent CEC from taking the funds directly because it is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

These laws are there to protect the public from being misled or defrauded. Instead, CEC would have to use a third party crowdfunding website which is already regulated by the FCA.

They would undertake all the necessary checks on CEC, ensure that investors are made fully aware of what they are investing in, collect their investment on behalf of CEC and issue the shares.?

Dean Christy, said, “We have absolutely no choice in this - we have to comply with the law, which is there to protect all investors. We appreciate the inconvenience this may cause to so many people who simply want to hand over the money they have pledged.”

The crowdfunding website, SEEDRS will start collecting the money from on or about December 7 and continue through until January 3. Everyone who wants to invest in Corn Exchange Crickhowell Ltd will have to register with the site.

The meeting was told that help would be offered to anyone concerned about the online process. SEEDRS will provide a dedicated helpline and members of the CEC steering committee will be available to provide personal one-to-one assistance. A help desk will be available at the Cric building on a few days during the campaign. Full details of this and other help will be made available before the offer goes online.

Following discussions with CEC, SEEDRS have agreed to take debit card payments from anyone who doesn’t bank online.

Dean Christy said, “We are committed to making sure anyone who wants to invest can invest but everyone must register with SEEDRS or their money can’t be accepted.”

Emma Bevan, Chair of the Corn Exchange Action Group, which was set up to stop the building being turned into a supermarket, said, “These small shops and flats are badly needed in Crickhowell, we have no doubts we will fill them.”

The company also received welcome news from the Brecon Beacons National Park Sustainable Development Fund – who are going to pay for a part-time administrator post for the start of the project. This will be advertised shortly.

Andrew Gray, an experienced project manager who is part of the Corn Exchange team said, “The Corn Exchange Campaign was conceived to protect jobs in independent family businesses threatened by a supermarket. Not only have we achieved that, we are now creating employment as well!”

The administrator’s job will be part-time, a maximum of 20 hours a week and paying up to £20 an hour.

Anyone who has any concerns or questions is asked to contact Corn Exchange Crickhowell Ltd via email on [email protected]

Further contact information can be found through the Cric building or investors can call Dean Christy direct on mobile number 07850 731514.