Monday 20 October 2008

Pub news.

I apologise for the lack of postings this week, but very little has happened. No Keith,don't know where he's been. Didn't even show up on Sunday for his lunch!

The only news is :1,I haven't been belted. I'm losing my touch! 2: Jez has replaced the seating in the "posh bit. He did it all himself,and has made a cracking job of it! 3: The brewery have put the weekly rent up and seem to be trying to put a hard working couple out of business! It's mind boggling the lack of help these companies give to their tenants.

14 comments:

stueykins said...

the breweries seem to be trying to make the same amount of money from less pubs.. at the moment here in england an average of 53 pubs a month are closing down.. surely the breweries should try and be keeping them open and having some income.. rather than forcing them to become too expensive to stay open.... cutting their own throats I reckon.

Unknown said...

Stueykins, spot on!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Here's a naive thought [mine]...if prices stay too high, then people will soon stop buying...so why doesn't everyone drop their prices? Especially seeing now that oil prices are going down and they can't use the high price of oil as the old excuse for raising prices.

Unknown said...

GG,hi. It stinks doesn't it?

Jon M said...

Hey what's with all the infrequent posting? Who do you think you are? Me? :-)

How many pubs a day going out of business? It's shameful.

#Debi said...

I think it's odd that the pubs are owned by the breweries there. We don't have that problem here--anyone with a liquor license can open a pub...

Anonymous said...

I'm still around, it's just that I've had a bad attack of "poorlyness". I should be in the Monk on Tuesday to stir things up a bit.

The pub next door to me, "The Plough", has gone out of business this week. Partly due to people cutting back on their drinking, the brewery doubling the rent to the tenants, neighbours complaining about the drunken kids who use it at weekends and the police continually having to come out to stop the street fights and brawling caused by these drunken parasites! Hurrah! There IS a God!

Now the "Merrie Monk" is a decent traditional pub and I think it's the best one in the area. I hope it doesn't go down the pan, that would be a shame. Especially for John (he spends more time there than at home!)

dubaibilly said...

It is patently wrong that the breweries own the pub, charge the tenant rent and then make the tenant buy the breweries own product at prices determined by the breweries! It smacks of the old company shop scheme during the industrial revolution.

I have had a couple of jobs where accommodation came with the job - once when I managed a chip shop and now that I am teaching in Dubai.

In both cases the accommodation was (and still is) looked upon as a perk of the job - it isn't part of my salary as no monetory value is ascribed to it - if rents go up in the apartment block in which I live, it does not affect me one jot.

This is the way the breweries should be working with their tenants instead of charging them rent. Unfortunately greed has got in in the past and once that happens it is there to stay!

Dumdad said...

The Merrie Monk is my blogosphere local: I'd have nowhere to go for a quiet Internet pint if it was forced out of business; it's an oasis in this credit-crunched world.

Save this pub!

Dumdad said...

I've just read an article in The Guardian that says FIVE pubs a DAY are closing. Crikey.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/21/fooddrinks-retail

ChrisB said...

Sadly all the breweries care about is squeezing out more profit-caring about their tenants is the last thing they worry about. Many pubs are in prime sites and could get even more money if sold for development!
Your pub sounds a wonderful place so I hope they can weather the storm- you will all have to spend more time there!

wendishness said...

You hadn't been belted but from what I hear she's finally caught up with you today ;)

Holly said...

I had NO idea that pubs in the UK were owned by breweries! Hmmm, puts a whole different perspective on a whole lot of things. It's an absolute shame actually, because in the US, the small local bars in small towns, where pretty much nothing but locals hang out, are the best places to get a decent bite to eat and relax with a drink. You feel like you are supporting your neighbors. Can't say that you'd necessarily have that same feeling in the UK - at least I wouldn't if I was ever to visit there again. Sad.

Unknown said...

Holly, there's still a 'locals' atmosphere but the breweries are screwing their tenants to death!