Hi Dan

Thanks for responding. Yes I own the toxic ease on The Sun and Doves - have done since 1995 - and I know James Wilmore as well but that's just coincidence if you know hime too. I wanted to 'link in' with you because of your connection with Common Capital and the work I'm doing on The People's Pub Partnership. I think there's probably a lot we can do together at some point fairly soon if you're interested.

I'm really pushed right now because next Friday I'm being evicted from the pub by Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company after a seven year fight over my 2005 rent review. During this horrible time I had a nervous breakdown, set up the Fair Pint Campaign and refined my ideas about cooperative working and sustainable business practices which led to my PPP proposal. I've been working on such ideas since before I signed the lease on The Sun and Doves in the first place - when even the suggestion of employee ownership made solicitors and accountants roll their eyes as if I was a silly child.

Now though, I have a lot more experience and some intellectual clout in the pub industry and the zeitgeist has moved on. PPP ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of pressing issues that are all around us now. It is a revolution of sorts but at the same time there's nothing intrincially new about any of it - everything the project proposes already has successfull working examples to look at and use as a model. What has not been done before is all these separate models coming together in a joined up way in one place also that connects directly with communities. I've been working hard on growing the network of people and organisations who are essential to making the project come together and be stable and now it's quite developed. I think it's perhaps three months away from being at a serious fund raising stage (taking into account evictions and other related hiatus) and 2012 is where it will kick off.

Perhaps we can take this further soon? realistically I'm going to be completely absorbed by fighting fires with the forces of evil pubcodom for the next couple of weeks but it would be good to pick up then if you have time.

My email address is mdodds58@gmail.com and telephone number is 07768 096 761 would be good to take it up.

By the way. Have you come across Brewdog? Their Equity for Punks scheme is interesting; http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/equity-for-punks-own-part-of-brewdog

Best wishes

Mark