BECOME A CO-OWNER
The brewery is owned by 450 people.
Lacada is a co-operative. The people who own it are the people who drink the beer, pour the pints, run the taproom and turn up on canning day. One member, one vote, whether you hold one share or a hundred. That is the whole idea, and it is the reason this place exists at all.
The share offer is not open right now
We open it when the co-operative needs to raise money for something specific, and it closes again when we have what we need. It is not a rolling scheme, so there is nothing to buy today. What there is, is this page: put your name down and you will be among the first to know when it opens again.
What co-ownership actually means
You are not buying a stake to sell on later. Shares in a co-operative do not rise in value and there is no market for them. What you get is a say and a stake: a vote at the AGM, the right to stand for the board, and a share in the decisions that shape the brewery. Co-owners have voted on beers, on the taproom, on the building we are in.
The rest is less formal and matters just as much. Co-owners turn up. They bring their families to the taproom, put their hand up when a brew day needs an extra pair of hands, tell people where to find the door on Victoria Street. Some have been here since the first brew kit in a garage; some joined last year.
If that sounds like something you want to be part of, tell us below. We read every one of these, and when the offer opens the people on this list hear first.
Read the rules before you decide
Lacada is a registered society, and our rules are our constitution. They set out what the co-operative is for, how members join and leave, how the board is elected, how a vote is called and what happens to the assets if we ever wind up. They are built on the Co-operatives UK multi-stakeholder model rules. Twenty-two pages, and worth the read if you are thinking of joining.
Rules of Lacada Brewery Limited (PDF)Registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, IP number 000412.