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Old 17-06-2010, 06:21   #50
Ken Moss
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Re: The Greed of the Breweries

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrie Yates View Post
Would appear that you hold a minority view Ken.
There are many factors why a pub closes down, a lot of them are interactive, location, facilities, staff attitude, quality of beer and service, availability of food, entertainment, local transport, cleanliness - I am sure that there are many other factors.

Of course one must also consider that being friendly with any particular landlord may well colour one's judgement.
You're quite right on all points, I'm simply looking at what people consider to be the primary reason for the lamentable state our pubs are in. My personal feeling is that the aftermath of the smoking ban has not been handled at all well by the breweries/leisure companies who are now screwing every last penny they can out of the good pubs and damaging them as a result.

Bear in mind that I have worked with many landlords over the years and pretty much all of them have ended up in the same boat and just given up. One or two were simply bad landlords, of course.

To take the Hob Inn in Bamber Bridge as an example, I worked with the landlord there for six years and he built it up from a good pub into a fantastic pub but the brewery put the rent up as a result to the point where it was nearly £1,500 per week. With the best will in the world, you've got to earn that before you start covering your overheads, buying stock and paying wages so what is the point?

Something similar has just happened at the Mill Tavern, where I host one of my games nights. It has changed the entire dynamic of pubs because inexperienced landlords are flown in to take control of something which needs a steady hand, it never ever works.

If something is turning a profit in times like these then leave it alone. They have to buy their stock from the breweries anyway so the more they sell the better it is!

Benipete and Barrie Yates seem not to agree but just ask your local landlord how the land lies with their particular management.
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