LETTERs
LESG has finished u
s
We took on a pub three years ago called the Queen's Head in Horton, Telford, Shropshire. When we bought it we were under the management of Pubmaster but within the first five weeks we were sold off six times to different pubcos.
We ended up with London & Edinburgh Swallow Group (LESG). We had a three-year rolling lease - one of the old ones that is not a full repair lease - and for three years we had nothing but hell.
The roof and the heating needed to be fixed badly, it was the middle of winter and the conditions were effecting our health. It took six weeks to fix the boiler. Environmental Health came around and said it was up to LESG to fix and pay for the roof but it didn't. Eventually Environmental Health said they would sort it out as the house was not fit to live in and they would bill LESG.
When LESG realised how much it would cost them they started saying we had to pay for it as we had a full repair lease.
By now we'd had enough and put the lease up for sale for £45,000.
We had a buyer lined-up but when they found out the pubco was not going to pay for the roof repairs they backed out, so we had to drop the price to £25,000.
LESG then said they would not let us to sell unless we gave them £13,000 part payment for the roof repairs. We just wanted to get out so we gave them £13,000 out of the 25,000 we got for the sale.
We left the pub with nothing but a £40,000 debt and we may lose our home because of it.
I would never go into the pub business again, even if it was the last job on earth.
LESG has finished us. My husband and I are at our wit's end and don't know what is going to happen
to us now.
Perhaps if there are others out there we could get together and try to do something about the way we have been treated.
Mr & Mrs Gray
1 Westmorland Mews, Leegomery, Telford, Shropshire
One year on and everyone's happy
One year on the Manchester Pub & Club Network expresses satisfaction that despite all the doomsday predictions, the liberalisation of the country's licensing laws has overwhelmingly been beneficial to all our members .
In addition customers have far more choice then prior to the changes.
In the few instances where pubs or clubs have not operated in a satisfactory fashion, they are dealt with by the police and local authorities who have far more flexible options and swifter remedies to tackle any problems, including immediate closure notices
if needed.
However we are not complacent and will continue to review any situation brought to our attention
Phil Burke
Spokesperson, Manchester Pub & Club Network
Take-home not pubs are at fault
I have been a licensee since June 1985 and I find it very difficult to understand Patricia Hewitt's views on binge drinking among teenagers or her Government's failure to control the sale of alcohol in the off-trade.
In the '70s public houses were responsible for some 90% of all alcohol sold in the UK, today off-sales have 43% of the market share, thus leaving the on-trade with less than 60% of the market share.
The Government has supported huge discounting in supermarkets and has now extended sales of off-trade to other outlets such as paper shops and garages.
Until the balance of the on-off price difference is addressed binge drinking will live on our streets. Back lanes, parks and seafronts will be littered with cans and bottles purchased from cheap outlets.
People are drinking in uncontrolled environments and underage drinking is on the up. The root of this problem is with the take-home trade not pubs.
Tescos 24 cans of Carling is £9.98 inc VAT. At my pub, 24 pints of Carling is £56.40. Please calculate the loss in VAT income on the off-sales compared to my pub.
This loss in VAT revenue from off-sales could be being used to fund the NHS, improve education or increase pensions.
My customers frequently come into my pub on a Friday or Saturday night already having consumed their recommended units at home. Please, Mrs Hewitt, wake up and live in the real world of Booze Britain.
Mr A Hopkins
The Seahorse, Porthcawl,
Mid Glamorgan, Wales
