“We are passionate about what we do. We love it here and want to keep welcoming our customers,” Hendrik and Julie Dutson-Steinfeld say looking around at their welcoming and beautifully decorated gastropub The Duck On The Pond in South Newington.
Their accountant is busy at work when we arrive to talk to them about their new crowdfunding campaign, trying to help the couple to keep afloat.
It’s beautiful at The Duck On The Pond, the fire blazing, light airy dining room laid up, the blackboard crammed full of upcoming events, Hendrik’s wonderful menus earning him a legion of fans. But times are tough in hospitality, and the Dutson-Steinfeld‘s are feeling the pinch, bills left unpaid and VAT demands coming in more and more regularly.
But rather than quit and leave their beloved pub forever, the pair have started a crowdfunding campaign to ease the burden, and have been amazed with the response.
Having opened in 2022, READ ABOUT IT HERE The Duck In The Pond has achieved numerous accolades since then and is in The Michelin Guide.
‘It’s been truly overwhelming and totally unexpected and made us feel even more embedded in the community’
“When we launched the Crowdfunding we offered lots of great options from vouchers to cookery lessons so that whoever donates gets something back in return,” Julie explains.
But instead the majority of the money raised has been from donations, many anonymous, and the couple have been stunned by the goodwill and generosity of their community, giving them hope for the future.
Having raised £12,500 of their £32,000 target, the Dutson-Steinfeld‘s can now start paying HMRC back while continuing to do what they do best, and it has encouraged them to persevere, while they try to reach their target.
“It was a hard decision to make to start crowdfunding, but we felt it was our only option, to be proactive rather than defeatist, to focus on surviving,” Hendrik says. “So the reason we are doing this is because we want to stay.
‘we are still really proud of what we deliver here and our ethos. We just don’t want to cut any more corners and lose sight of who we are’
“We’ve just had so many bills that we couldn’t pay since Covid, let alone being able to make any improvements here, we just couldn’t catch up with the payments. We have squeezed everything we possibly can, and our budgets are so tight there is never anything left over,” the couple explain.
“We know we’re not the only ones, but we just thought we’d give crowdfunding a go because while our numbers are pretty much the same the costs of everything have spiralled, and the sums just don’t add up.”
“We have tried to adapt again and again with events and community offerings, different menus, everything we can think of. We are always trying new things to encourage people in, and know we need to keep changing too. I think we have a reputation for fine dining, but we really do offer something for everyone from brunch to fixed price menus. You can come in for fish and chips, a pint or a taster menu,” Hendrik adds.
“Because we are still really proud of what we deliver here and our ethos. We just don’t want to cut any more corners and lose sight of who we are, the quality we are so proud of, or what we are trying to do at The Duck In The Pond.
‘It would just be nice to wake up and not always be preoccupied with our debt and worried about paying our bills’
“We source local produce and support local farmers and yes we could get our produce cheaper but thats not who we are (Hendrik and Julie grow as much of their produce on sit as possible).
“It would just be nice to wake up and not always be preoccupied with our debt and worried about paying our bills, because the backlog seemed insurmountable until we did this.
“It did feel a bit weird asking for money but if you don’t ask you don’t get and the alternative was far worse. So yes, this has been a lifeline,” Julie accedes.
So how do they feel abut the response? “It’s been truly overwhelming and totally unexpected and made us feel even more embedded in the community,” they say.
‘We just want people to come in and give us a try and see what we are doing here’
“We just want people to come in and give us a try and see what we are doing here because we have so much to give and so many different offerings. You don’t need to book and you will be very welcome whether it’s for a bar snack, happy hour or a special occasion. So come in and give us a go.”
Check out their crowdfunding page here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-our-family-business-the-duck-on-the-pond
For more info on The Duck on The Pond in South Newington go to https://www.theduckonthepond.co.uk
