Am I reading it right where this Twitfield character is suggesting they could use part of The Mowbray as their community pub?

I hope it comes off for them and they prove everyone wrong. All decent blokes as well, the liabilities would be hugely reduced, the business rates etc, also the retail wholesale costs would be a lot lower through not being tied to a pubco lease

If it's owner occupied then it has every chance of being a going concern

The people who nay-say it haven't the first idea why the pub struggled in the first place, otherwise they would not make such waste bin comments

If the day ever dawned where all pubs had to be free houses and owned by the landlord, some sanity might return.

Lets be fair.... If they had took a bit more notice of it when it was there then the brewer wouldn't of had to sell, but cos it was losing money they had no choice

Maybe the 'brewer' is the problem......?

Hardly, the pubs closing cos the locals stopped going, simple as that, before i go in a pub i dont think, eeee im not going in there as i dont like the brewery.

Mr Parmo, over to you.

Mr Parmo could certainly explain this better than me and with a much higher level of righteous anger but most publicans seem to feel that the breweries charge excessive rents and also make tennants pay over the odds for drinks. This pretty much makes it impossible to make a living out of running anything other than a massive food pub that is always busy. Think this is why Snowy is suggesting that all pubs should be landlord owned free houses.

the numbers of people using the place when I was in there, was easily sufficient to keep the place running and turn a tidy profit

The snag was,the entire profit plus more, was handed over to the pub co.

They set the rents and the beer prices and basically left the leaseholder out of pocket

Sheer unadulterated greed, and exploitation

Nothing to do with not making enough money - just the allocation of that money

As John said, the place used to be bouncing for the bands, and there was all the usual stuff on what pubs did to attract trade

There was around 3 quarters of a million in takings in the 3 years we had it.

Make of that what you will - but it is a myth that people don't want pubs or that they can't be profitable .It is down to the grasping of the people with the ultimate power to dictate who gets what, and a fair share for the tenant doesn't even come into their thinking

Locally owned micropubs are the way forward. Pubcos are the scum of the earth, completely wrecking communities for the sake of a quick buck.

what he said... people need to take charge of this situation before we lose the boozer altogether.... the alternative of food driven Wacky Warehouse type places turns my blood cold -

Spot on.

It's not that simple....as highlghted by the previous posts.

if they were prepared to accept less profit, this would have the effect of more tenants wanting to stay,and more punters to come in because the beer would be cheaper
There is absolutely nothing more to it than that,there really isn't

The solution is entirely in the hands of the pub co, not the locals, not the people in the area or not the tenants who leave as soon as they possibly can

The pub co's appear to be interested in 'famly pubs' and musical urinals....the average pub is milked dry and then ran through the mangle a bit more till there's nowt left... and then flogged off.... the regulars are an irrelevance, the pub is just a milk cow that's sent to the knackers yard and everyone can pop along to the 'Brat and Poeseur' to enjoy lasagne in the kids ball pool.
It's the future.

Snowy in hating progress shocker...

It's not really progress though is it....20 Local Pubs dissappear for 1 shit souless Pub with shit food!!!!

Progress was probably the wrong word, but it's just the sign of the times, these pubs that close would still be open if the punters were still going in them.

Spender might knock the pub with a ball pool but it's still open year after year cos people go in.

I can't speak for my whole generation but I don't have many friends or know many lads my age that would go sit in the same scruffy pub every Friday night in the same seats seeing the same faces.

Times change, if I was going out for a drink tonight or next week with the mrs of friends is go the marina or out of the town up to the gate or Durham, much more class.

The point Parmo is making is that punters are still going in them, but if they aren't making vast profits the Pubcos simply sell them, after wringing every last drop out of the landlords by charging them rip-off prices.

I work a literal stones throw from The Gate and class is not a term I would use to describe it

Yubep in missing the bigger picture (not a shocker).
......'progress'....? .... oh dear, ....... if it's new and shiney , you can guarantee you'll embrace it with all the enthusiasm of an Andrex puppy.
As for rambling on about people sitting in the same seats in the same pubs..... not my idea of a night out ...but if people want to do that then good luck to them.
...but if you think the Gate is 'class', I am for once ......... speechless,.......................

Thought the Headland Gates been knocked down .....

The words presented may not be the ones inputted ..Thanks Tapatalk

You mean young people are snobs? up their own ass or just misinformed by the mass media as to what is cool and what is not? The local pub was invented in times when people did not have transport or the money to just go to the marina, the gate or Durham. Its okay for those that have the money and the transport and are attempting to live the dream, but many are not so lucky and others may just prefer the simple life, chat, game of darts/pool etc (possibly with someone twice their age ) Its all about choices and you are right things have/are changing, but a nucleus of pubs should be retained otherwise you have no choice only restaurants that sell fizzy beer such as Wetherspoons, Beefeater, Sizzling , Wacky Warehouse type banality.

Of course young people are snobs, I'm sure people 10 years younger than me think the marina is shite n for boring twats.

To quote Abe Simpson...

I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it*, and what's *it* seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you...

Never knock nostalgia. Your turn will come. And incidentally I like modern pubs as much as old ones as long as they are comfortable, full of cheer, and the beer is good.

Loads of things which played a part in the community are vanishing overnight - shops, Post Offices, community centres, leisure facilities etc. If it continues at the same rate all that will be left are houses, churches, and places to go and collect your internet purchases from.

Community spirit is certainly non existant, maybe a few more smaller pubs in the newer built up areas would help this, neighbours rarely converse anymore, when i grew up all the parents knew each other n all the kids played together, i only have 7 neighbours in my street n i barely know the names of any of them.

I hope Churches go the same way tbh.

I agree with Pubey, in my mams street I think I know 95% of the people to talk to and we used to go on NYE round all the houses. Down here I cant tell you the name of any of my neighbours as I just dont see them.

when did peoples' instincts to socialise with one another vanish?

I know I hate the fact that not many people talk to each other but that might be a Southern thing. Apart from my neighbors I know loads of people in and around the town and always saying hi to people stopping for a chat when out and about my missus hates the fact that I cant go out without seeing people I know. I put this down people remembering me as I have a distinctive accent down here and I am a gobby short arse and also I work in a pub. Granted most people know me as Hobbit (lovely nickname from my mates down here) or the Geordie lad from the pub (which pisses me off even more).

Sadly even local Brewer Camerons are trying to turn themselves into a bit of a pubco, which may i add they are not big enough or clever enough to do, 1 Camerons pub left in the town and there level of support is ever decreasing, and there costs are ever increasing, yet another rent and barrel increase shortly, But being where we are with the locality to the proper big Pubcos an increase for us to pass on is zero , just wont work, even with a reasonably priced pint, entertainment most weekends, all the live footy, we still cant attract anyone in, it is only the pools games that keep the place alive, the industry is price driven , and independant tennants like ourselves just dont stand a chance , its all about buying power and volumn as we have seen over the past 4 years your locals just cannot compete in the long run and they will eventually all be a thing of the past, Good luck tho to anyone trying for a community micro pub, i think they are a great idea, a friend of mine has asked me to assist in setting one up in a little village in north yorkshire who recently lost there only pub, now its miles in taxis for an over priced pint and a chat, purely with the aim to have a village watering hole in a converted double garage where the few locals can gather and any profits made, go straight back into supporting it , sometimes its not all about profit, these people want there community back , and good luck to them.

the underpinning reason for the industry being so price driven is greed though Phil... don't me and you know it!!!!

The latest idea is to have all the interior assetts valued, ( fixtures fittings )and passed onto the tennant who has the option of purchasing it all as a one off cost (yeah right) or having the cost added to our rent over a 12 month period, at the end of an agreed 5 yr lease they will buy it back obviously at a price in line with depreciation of said goods, on the condition you see out your 5 yr agreement, anything short of 5 yrs is deemed in breach of said contract and you get nothing, while i have been in there i have installed and replaced furniture, tvs, dishwashers, cctv, music systems etc all to my cost about 13k worth of stuff so i offered to sell them it at the going rate and knock it off my beer payments , any idea what there answer was, who comes up with these fooking ideas, ha ha ha ha how many pubs nowadays have the same tennants for 5 yrs, they have all gone bankrupt in about 3, SO who is the overall winner again.

What a state of affairs, Nobby. I feel for you after the shift you've put in. If you make a penny, they want tuppence. Sadly this has been going on for years and then they turn the tax screw every year as well. Don't they understand that there's a bottom to the barrel (no pun intended)?

I like the sound of that Spender, making a penny, and if that day ever came i wouldnt put it in the bank either cos them self serving twats will be away with it, no the day that penny lands i am gonna nail it to the wall with pride and say i earned that only another 2 1/2 million of the little bastards before that one turns up. our motto is onwards and backwards

and that is the finalbottom line on the matter folks... straight from the horse's mouth (s)

any more horror stories I'm sure me and Nobby would be only too willing to share... the unseen immoral activities of big business eh?

As usual the bloke who gets kicked is the one in front of the public, with the faceless bastards holding the torture device stood behind him!!!!