Cheap and nasty - Provence's downfall

A Provence whistleblower has claimed that the company was charging licensees about double sustainable levels of rent.

The whistleblower, who left the company about a year ago, said: "Most rents should have been halved. Provence was doing everybody in the industry a disservice. I could smell a rat fairly early on -the rents set by Provence were unobtainable in many cases."

He cited the example of the Lodge in North Tuddenham in north Norfolk, a pub bought by Provence for £325,000 in May 2005. The company spent an estimated £30,000 on refurbishment and re-sold the pub at a London auction for £630,000, thanks to the promise of a £60,000 per annum rent from Provence.

The first tenant of the Lodge found himself taking just £1,500 a week - and then spent weeks trying to fix the pub's multiple problems, including illegal gas and electricity fittings, a leaking roof and external lights that trip on a regular basis.

The licensee told the MA: "The place was a real shambles - it had been left to go to rack and ruin for months. Many people in my situation would feel absolutely heart-broken."

The whitsleblower told the MA: "Pubs bought by Provence tend to be absolutely rubbish stock. Its business plan changes from week to week, but the main thrust is about buying cheap and nasty pubs and taking them to auction.

"Provence is causing many licensees a lot of misery by playing with people's lives. In business terms, it's a bad joke."

A West Country property expert who is familiar with 20 Provence pubs operating in his area, told the MA a year ago: "Provence is buying pubs and selling them for more than they are worth.

"This has to come to the stage where it has hundreds of pubs but can only obtain half the rents it needs."