A national brewing giant has turned the lives of five North Lakes pub families upside down by not renewing their licences to operate.
The move by Marston’s, owner of Jennings Brewery, has provoked anger in and around Keswick and has prompted a petition to change the law preventing pub companies from ‘evicting’ tenants without proper cause.
Those running the five pubs — the Oddfellows Arms, the Bank Tavern, the George Hotel and the Twa Dogs Inn, all Keswick, and the Royal Oak in Braithwaite — have been left jobless and in some cases homeless.
The first publican to receive his section 25 notice, giving him a year to vacate his hostelry, was second generation landlord Carl Maloney, who runs the Oddfellows Arms with his wife, Cath.
“We’ve got nothing left. We are both just broken,” said Mr Maloney. “We feel as though the world has just been kicked out from under us.
“Marston’s have been telling us since we took the lease on in 2013 that they would renew it. They even talked us into spending our life savings on refurbishing the pub.”
Mr Maloney’s father originally took on the lease in 1982 and he has called the Oddfellows home for most of his life.
“It’s perfectly legal but massively immoral,” he added. “Our entire life has been turned upside down just to make a spreadsheet work down in Wolverhampton. It’s inhumane.”
“We are desperately house hunting, but we can’t stay here, it’s just too expensive with people buying second homes and holiday lets.”
No legal action
By taking direct ownership of the pubs, Marston’s which is based 181 miles away in the Midlands, faces no legal action for not renewing the leases of the long-standing
hosts, due to the 70-year-old Landlord and Tenant Act.
Peter Hardy, 70, who has run the Twa Dogs Inn with his wife Marjory for 23 years, will have to vacate the business next July.
“It’s heart-breaking,” said Mr Hardy. “I never wanted to retire. I have the best staff you could ever wish for.
“We’re like one big family and I’m gutted we’re getting split up.”
His real family are also very upset. He said that between his two daughters, their partners and the six grandchildren everyone thought of the pub as their second home.
He added that the pub and the town will lose a lot of character if taken over by a larger company.
The individual quirks of all Keswick’s pubs could be lost such as the George Hotel’s famous cow pies and his own football shirt collection.
“They told us why they wanted it,” he said. “They said we want 100 per cent of the accommodation income, 100 per cent of food and wet sales.
“Since lockdown business has been booming. We set up a marquee outside and it’s fully booked most weekends.”
The tenants are to be paid two years rateable value but have not been offered purchased goodwill or compensation for investment into premises.
The pub chain recorded a £105.5 million pre-tax loss in the six months before April 3.
Carlsberg UK bought a majority stake in Marston’s brewing arm last year and the company is now primarily a brick-and-mortar operation.
Marston’s operations director Ed Hancock said: “Our conversations with our lessees and tenants across the country are always confidential.”
‘Kicking a man while he’s down’
Keswick mayor Alan Dunn, said: “I really can’t believe that Marston’s are doing this to their long-serving tenants in Keswick. Talk about kicking a man while he’s down.
“The hospitality trade and pubs in particular have been the worst hit of all businesses and many are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth.
“To terminate their leases now, giving them until next year to get out is unbelievable and a blatant example of corporate greed.
“Marston’s seem to be just cherry picking the busiest pubs and are picking on Keswick. They are not doing this all over the country.
“Visitors come to Keswick for a variety of reasons, one of which is the wide variety of shops and different places place to eat and drink. Imagine having five Marston pubs in the same small town.
“For all we know they could all have the same beers, same prices and same menus.”
Fiona Law who runs the Royal Oak in Braithwaite, with her husband Gordon, said she has spent four years upgrading the building and finished the final three bedrooms in January.
Her business is very popular, and she boasts a 98 per cent room occupancy rate. She hoped to hand the business over to her son in the future, but this will not now be possible.
Mrs Law uses local suppliers and said they could also feel the crunch should the brewery centralise food and drink providers.
A petition set up by Mr Maloney lobbying for a change in the law garnered 1,000 signatures in one week.