The couple who stepped in to save their local pub from closure last year have appealed to locals to band together to keep it open for good.
Phil and Julie Dale from Hilderstone stepped in at the end of November when Admiral Taverns were getting ready to board up The Roebuck in their village. The couple took on the lease on a temporary basis but say they will have to relinquish this at the end of June.
Here’s an update from Julie – please get in touch with them if you can help…
“Unfortunately, unless there is a miraculous upturn in business over the next few weeks, we will have no alternative but to relinquish the tenancy as of the 30th June 2013.
We have held the tenancy now for around 6 months and although we feel that great strides have been made in improving the facilities and the offering at the pub, unfortunately the volatility in the takings just do not make a financially viable case for us to continue. We have invested a significant sum of money in the pub, most of which we will lose. We accepted this risk when we took it on but we have now exceeded our original limit to date and cannot risk any further sums on a ‘not for profit’ basis.
We have approached the owners again, Admiral Taverns, and asked for support of any kind but, unfortunately they are unwilling to assist “as the pub is up for sale”. In short, they would prefer to see it closed than offer any financial support of any kind such as reduced rent or beer prices!
Our hopes in taking on the tenancy were to keep the pub open until a potential purchaser or another experienced licensee could be found who would be interested in taking it over as a pub and not as a property speculator but, although there have been several viewings by interested parties some months ago, to date no offers have been made.
The pub really needs an individual or team who could dedicate the necessary time and resources to turn it around permanently. As you are aware we run a manufacturing business which takes up a lot of our time and so we cannot dedicate the required resource alone. Furthermore, our last six months trading figures do not make good reading for anyone who hopes to make a living from the venture. So, although we are not privy to Admiral’s plans once we give up the tenancy, we doubt, based on our numbers, that anyone would be interested in taking on the challenge as an individual tenant.
There is a very real prospect of the pub being boarded up as from the beginning of July. This is very much what we hoped to avoid but it seems that The Roebuck just does not attract sufficient sustained custom for either food or drink at the moment to remain a viable financial proposition without extensive resources in time and expertise to market all the things it has going for it – which are many.
We would like to add that we have thoroughly enjoyed our time at the pub. We have had great support from Pete and the staff and we have met and got to know lots of people that we would not ordinarily have come into contact with and have been very touched by the significant support and contributions people have made, for example restoring the Petanque pitch and clearing out and significantly improving the beer garden to name but a few. Other contributions such as the B&B sending us as many clients as possible, arranging the Acoustic Night, which perks up a Thursday no end, and our Race Night which was a great success. None of these would have been possible without the concerted efforts of local patrons and we would like to thank everyone concerned.
In the meantime we would be happy to accept any suggestions or support to help prevent the closure. To this end, if we can gather enough interest, we are happy to hold a meeting, at the pub of course, where we can answer any questions and discuss what, if any future The Roebuck may have, after all it’s your pub and your views are always welcome. Due to other business commitments the next available date would be Sunday 9th June. Please email Phil if you would be interested and / or able to attend the meeting – phildale@laytontechnologies.com”
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