The doors of a Spalding pub have closed with difficult trading, rising costs, roadworks and lack of footfall all an issue.
Landlord Padraig Hughes issued a lengthy statement as The Royal Mail Cart closed last week.
He took over the pub last August but said the commercial pressures of running the business were mounting and the final straw was the roadworks outside his door on Pinchbeck Road.
Mr Hughes said despite investment, longer opening hours and the restaurant, the numbers didn’t add up.
“Pubs across Britain are closing at an alarming rate, and the reasons are complex. Taxation and business costs are high, energy costs have increased enormously, staffing and food costs have risen and customer habits have changed,” he said.
In order to generate a profit, Mr Hughes said the pub would need to turn over £600,000 a year.
“There is also no escaping the impact of the current Pinchbeck Road works. Just as we were developing the daytime cafe operation, trading was hit extremely hard. Access and passing traffic reduced dramatically,” he added, calling the county council’s £1.8m cycle path scheme ‘the final straw.’
“Trying to sustain the business through prolonged roadworks and severely restricted access ultimately contributing to my conclusion that I simply could not justify committing myself,” his statement says.
“At a time when public services face enormous financial pressures, I believe taxpayers are perfectly entitled to ask whether projects of this scale represent the best possible value for public money. Whatever one’s view of the merits of this scheme, the impact upon this business has been very real.
“On one recent morning I personally could not gain access to my own premises for approximately two hours.
A tenant of Stonegate Group, Mr Hughes stressed it was his decision to discontinue the tenancy and had asked for a few extra days to remove property and conclude the time in ‘an orderly conclusion.’
The owners have it advertised on their website with a £5,000 rent concession for the first year. The rent ‘guide’ is £32,000 a year or £615 a week.
The company has five Lincolnshire pubs in need of new management, including the Burghley Arms in Bourne and the Hammer and Pincers in Wyberton. There are more than 200 other pubs around the country advertised as available.
It advertises the Royal Mail Cart as having a forecasted turnover of £559,426 a year.
