Birmingham's Good Intent pub yet to donate any profit to charity five years after opening

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.

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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."

Mr Craddock vehemently denied this was ever the venue's protocol when contacted by BirminghamLive. He admitted he had been forced to fire staff in the past but denied his employees were ever told to lie to customers.

Of the claims made on the venue's social media, he said: "I'm not in control of our social media. That's not what I do. I'm in my 40s. We say we will donate our profit but we haven't made any profit.

"We've made a loss actually, but we still have people in full-time employment; all my staff get paid, suppliers get paid. We're making improvements [financially]. I do fully intend to be in profit next year."

On the 'Ten per cent goes to charity' signs in the pub, he said: "That's what's left. That would typically be from the profit - but we don't have profit." When asked if the Community Interest Company (CIC) had made any donations at all, the pub boss said he had done "little bits here and there". "We have helped charities with venue space and have made small donations along the way".

Mr Craddock admitted donating profits as promised wasn't possible with the pub still repaying government Bounce Back loans awarded during the pandemic. He added: "I have to pay tax on the profit before I give money away too. That was a surprise to me when I set up [Good Intent] as a CIC. I was hoping to get it set up as a charity."

Mr Craddock also said he owed £60,000 to his landlord but that, instead of paying, they would allow him to spend it investing into improving the Great Western Arcade instead. "It's going to sound weird to people if I'm giving [the pub] a facelift before I'm giving money to charity - but that's how it is. But, of course, I need to find the £60,000 first."

On the venue's financial struggles, he added: "We were flying when we first opened. We were making more than £25,000 per week - but then Covid came. Before [the pandemic] we used to get the suits come in. One guy said 'here's my card, let me know when it hits £2,000'.

"That was normal, but we don't get that now. But the Good Intent is a really good thing and I would love to see it replicated in other cities. We're really proud we're still here."