Thomas Carr smashes crowdfund target with weeks left to go

Thomas Carr launched the crowdfund campaign on Kickstarter last month, aiming to secure funding to open a new restaurant in north Devon as early as next month.

The crowdfund target was set at £15,000 to cover costs needed to take over the site of the Lamb Hotel on Ilfracombe High Street, which is a short walk away from his current restaurant.

So far, the campaign has managed to secure £17,200 from 128 backers.

The new restaurant will be called Thomas Carr Seafood & Grill, and  will offer an a la carte menu upstairs, a bar and grill menu downstairs, and a garden for summer barbecues.

“We've achieved the target we initially set to make this happen, so it's happening!” Carr posted on his Kickstarter updates page. “But we don't want to stop here, in fact we're just getting started.”

The chef chose to raise the money through crowdfunding as it has been shown to be an effective way for restaurants to get off the ground.

“Every business needs money to begin with, and there are a number of ways to get that. We wanted to fund the most effective way, as we have some great ideas for the business and also want to keep the costs to the customers as low as possible. We thought Ilfracombe, and north Devon, would be the ideal place to crowdfund as there is such a great crowd to fund from.”

Carr, who trained and worked under Nathan Outlaw, gained Ilfracombe’s first Michelin star for The Olive Room in 2016, two years after opening. He retained it this year, as well as adding three AA rosettes to his collection.