Pub issues own bonds to raise cash

A pub has issued its own £500 bonds in an attempt to raise money.

The Brewery Tap in Ipswich will sell the bonds to customers who will get a 10% discount on food and drink, instead of interest, in return, writes the BBC.

Mike Keen, landlord, said he needed to raise money as he had failed to secure lending from banks.

He hopes to raise £20,000 and claimed he would start repaying bond holders their £500 from June 2012.

He said the pub lost money last year after thieves stole cabling from the derelict former Tolly Cobbold Brewery next door, which meant the pub had to use an electricity generator for two months.

Keen said: "You hear the government banging on about how they're pressurising the banks to loan to small businesses to kick-start the economy, and it's just not working.

"Customers have said 'if you want a loan or anything let's do it', so now we've structured it into a proper deal.

"Bond holders would buy [the bonds] in the knowledge they're helping their local at a time when about 27 pubs are going out of business each week."