Picture this.
A beautiful pub in the country with restaurant and 6 letting rooms. A pub company that says it IS doing £179,000 per year on wet and they will charge £40,000 rent.
Add to this food (Est by Brewery £45,000 minimum), and accommodation (Est by brewery £60,000) Not unreasonable for the lot!
Then add £83,000 of improvements. Making the cellar legal, kitchen legal, lighting and electricals the same and generally “doing up the place” as promised by the brewery.
There we have it! A refurbished pub / restaurant ready for the summer season 2008!
Nope earliest estimate is now 2010!
Oh yes! And also…… Average Takings have been, at best, £4,500 net over 18 months which mean I lose £1,000 a week give or take ….and most of it’s give!!!
Deduct from this the number of microwaves, fridges etc. that have “blown” due to electrics which are illegal and have had to be replaced. Light bulbs which cost me over £700 to move in and ongoing problems with boilers, freezers etc. which have cost approximately £3,000.
Then, when no refurbishement activity from the brewery takes place and it’s costing £100 per week in “blown” appliances. I decide to throw in the towel.
I get someone who is prepared to take the place on (Nutter but there we go!) and then find that the brewery decides to give them a “deal”
What happens? They do the deal without my knowledge and come back to me to say “We’ve done a deal” Oh and by the way……. because we have decided to give the new incumbents £10,000 off their rent…. YOU have to pay.
I am now left with a position where I can’t afford to leave and can’t afford to stay!
I know the more experienced out there will think I’m a halfwit. I probably am. But this is a BIG WARNING! Do not go into this without your eyes wide open! The Pubcos will tear you apart they do not give a toss about your well-being!
Any help would be greatly apreciated.
I would prefer to remain anonymous for obvious reasons
Hello all first heard about morning advertiser on a course with the gorgeous Gemma McKenna. I set about buying the lease for the Red Lion with Greene King in March and what a roller coaster ride this has been. As my first attempt at letting the world know my story I will make a simple plea to anyone out there who knows anyone thinking of getting a pub help them any way you are able to because we all know how difficult it can be. I knew the pub I wanted and watched as it went down in price over a period of nearly 18 months until I got it for less than a second hand family car, so I did not rush into this as I was also giving up a highly paid sales job with a major national chilled food company with earnings in excess of £50000 a year plus benefits. This is not a job it is a total life experience and any fainthearted or watchers (those that blame others when it goes wrong when it is their own fault)must not make any attempt to give it a go, they will fail. I have come into this customer driven industry eyes open totally focused to make it work. Next installment will let you know what happened in run up to completion !! Rob