AS the landlord of this pub, when I moved in last November I agreed with comments made that the pub was not viable.
But since myself and my partner have been here we have at least doubled the turnover, got rid of the undesirables and made this a centre of the community once again.
I think many are not aware of one fact in the loss of so many pubs – companies like Spirit & Enterprise Inns are big PLCs traded on the stock exchange.
They are basically large property management companies with a secondary income coming from what is called the Beer Tie and have really only one goal, to make as much money as possible for the shareholders.
The Beer Tie is probably the biggest cause of failed pubs in recent years.
How this works is I pay a sensible rent for my pub, but I have to buy my beer, ciders, and in some cases all other drinks, from the pub company. I have to pay a premium for this. For example I have to buy a keg of Carling at £155.46. The wholesaler can sell the same keg for £95.94 – a difference of £59.52.
Now let's say the pub sells 10 kegs a week, that's 880 pints of Carling. I have now paid an additional £496.00 to the pub company over what I would pay the wholesaler, or £25,792 per year, on just one product. We sell seven draft beers and ciders.
I mentioned in a previous article in the Echo that I was narrowly outbid in my attempt to buy the Queen's Head.
As a privately-owned independent pub I could have been more competitive and would have more money to invest in building my business. I would not have put a bid in for this site if I didn't think the business has long-term sustainability.
A lot of time and effort go into running a good community pub and we have many plans to develop this business and plan on staying here till we retire. That is at least another 25 years.
It's not often I say this, but in our area we have lost the dry cleaners and funnily enough a general food store in the last year. An off licence is next door to us and a lot of their customers visit the pub regularly.
The bookmakers on the other side of Polsloe Bridge have said they would probably have to shut if the pub goes.
I also understand that in the past decade there have been two failed attempts at a farmfood-type business within a couple of miles of the pub.
I'd like to thank Becky Hicks for her efforts in organising the campaign to save the pub, and thank all our customers.
It's time to make a stand. Many supermarkets get built every year but when was the last time you saw a new-built pub?
