Gary Usher hits £200,000 crowdfund target in just 24 hours

Elite Bistros chef-restaurateur Gary Usher has hit his £200,000 crowdfund target in just 24 hours, with more than £210,000 raised at the time of writing.

He posted on Twitter: “Not sure what to say. Thank you, Thank you for picking us back up. Thank you to the local community in Churton. Thank you to all the teams in Elite & thank you to our community… you lot. I messed up in business this year and you lot gave us the opportunity here to put it right.”

The crowdfund hit £123,000 just 12 hours after launching and still has four more days to go, with the funds going towards refurbishing and reopening Elite Bistros’ first pub, the White Horse in Churton, Cheshire. The pub is hoped to open in the new year with bedrooms planned for the business for 2024.

The crowdfund was a "plan B" after Usher cancelled an equity-based crowdfund last week, the group's first equity-based crowdfund, which raised more than £500,000 of a £750,000 target but did not reach the target figure.

The winner of last year's Restaurateur of the Year – Independent Catey, Usher is no stranger to crowdfunding, having raised £744,796 between 2015 and 2021 (exceeding the set target every time) to grow to six bistros and an events company, all offering approachable, affordable, quality modern bistro food. He now employs 150 people and the business has an annual turnover of £6m.

The business also has plans for a new tapas concept, Joya, and is developing the first floor of Deva House, the Elite Bistro Events headquarters in Chester, for a development and masterclass kitchen.

Elite Bistros' sites include Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester, the first solo restaurant for Usher, which opened in 2011; Burnt Truffle in Heswall on the Wirral, which opened in July 2015; Hispi in Didsbury, south Manchester; Wreckfish in Liverpool; Pinion in Prescot; and Kala in Manchester, which opened in 2019. All sites apart from Sticky Walnut were crowdfunded.