'Disappeared' couple speak of pubco disagreement
The former tenants of a famous Kent pub are suing Enterprise Inns for £1m for alleged breach of contract.
Adam Conti and his wife Hayley took over the Black Horse pub, made famous by the 1990s TV series The Darling Buds of May, in Pluckley in August 2003.
The pub is also famous because it is alleged to have its own resident ghost and Pluckley is named in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain's most haunted village.
But although the tenants were happy at the pub they lasted little over a year. Earlier this month, The Publican reported that the couple had disappeared without a trace, leaving thirsty regulars with nowhere to drink.
Now the couple have resurfaced and say they did not disappear but were refusing to open because they could not believe the way they had been treated.
They say an agreement was made with Enterprise's regional manager Graham Smart last December, allowing them to take on a 21-year lease in June. But they claim they were later told that Mr Smart had left the company and a new deal would cost them an extra £30,000. Now they are furious and are taking the company to court.
Adam Conti told The Publican: "We signed a tenancy-at-will in December 2003, expecting to get a 21-year lease in June. But then Graham Smart left and his boss has come down and said it no longer stands.
"We're absolutely gutted - my wife's just had a baby and we have been told to leave by December 6. We have nowhere to go. At the end of the day they've taken 21 years' earnings from us and caused a hell of a lot of stress."
Mr Conti said he and his wife were suing for £1m based on the average Enterprise Inns pub earning £37,000 a year.
The figure was quoted in Enterprise's own research, carried out by Deutsche Bank in November 2003.
"If you work that out it comes to just under a million pounds," said Mr Conti. "We can't believe the way Enterprise has treated us and we are determined to fight this."
A spokeswoman for Enterprise Inns said: "Enterprise Inns does not discuss contractual agreements as these are confidential business agreements between Enterprise and each licensee."
The company declined to comment any further.
The hearing is expected to be held next April.
Related articles:
Landlords vanish from haunted pub (9 November 2004)
