cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20063519
A city centre pub which has pledged to give all its profits to good causes has donated none five years after launching - despite still marketing itself as "supporting charity". The Good Intent opened in Birmingham's Great Western Arcade in October 2019 after successfully crowdfunding nearly £18,000.
The stylish pub, founded by Stourbridge-based Craddock’s Brewery, was described at the time as the UK's 'first not-for-profit bar' and promised to donate all profits to local charities. However, its financial statements have revealed it has failed to make any profit since opening.
Owner David Craddock told BirminghamLive it had not been possible to donate to good causes - other than "little bits here and there" - because the bar was not in profit. He said the pub was still struggling to recover from the pandemic but hoped it would find itself in the black next year.
Despite not being in the position to donate as promised, beer mats inside the pub state "ten per cent goes to charity" and that "one good deed deserves another". The bar's Instagram posts are regularly captioned with #supportingcharity. We counted at least ten instances of this hashtag across its 50-plus posts on the social media platform.
One post, from November 2023, states: "We are The Good Intent, the UK's first non-profit bar. What does that mean? That means that all profit we make goes to local charities." Yet all of the Good Intent's annual accounts between 2021, when its first accounts were filed, and 2024 state donating was "not possible".
Mr Craddock also strongly denied a former worker's unsubstantiated claims they were "told to lie on behalf of the company" when quizzed by customers about its charitable donations. The ex-employee alleged: "I lied to every customer that asked me about the details. They have benefitted from this lie as many customers who booked a table, or function room, did so because they thought the profit was going to charity."