Gary Usher hits £50k crowdfunding goal in one hour
The restaurateur had been aiming to raise the funds to support his new bistro Pinion in Prescot in just 24 hours from 9pm last night.
The Kickstarter campaign hit its goal in under 60 minutes, and by this morning had reached over £76,000 from 1,024 backers. It will continue to run until 9pm this evening.
Usher took to Twitter last night to thank backers for their support.
He wrote: “It’s overwhelming beyond words. I’m so grateful to have support like this and I don’t want anyone to think I take it for granted. It gives me the confidence to know what we’re doing is ok.”
Pinion will open on the site of a former betting shop in Prescot town centre in July 2018. Usher hopes the launch will help with the regeneration of the area, which he says has seen trade drop off after the opening of a nearby shopping centre.
The 55-cover restaurant will serve similar relaxed dishes to its sister sites, such as chicken liver pâté, apricot and cumin chutney, toasted brioche; and braised featherblade of beef, celeriac puree, parmesan and truffle chips.
Usher opened Sticky Walnut in 2011 and has since crowdfunded over £350,000 to launch Hispi in Chorlton, Burnt Truffle in Heswall and Wreckfish in Liverpool.
