21
March
Yes,
I know, we were going to go out for the day. That idea was scrapped at around
3am when Jan had a really bad cramp hit her good leg, the left one. Even now
it’s still hurting her quite a bit. In reality though, it won’t actually stop
us for long and we are already looking at sometime next week instead. I thought
about going to photo-show on at the NEC but the price of parking there on top
of the entrance fee puts it firmly out of our reach.
Yesterday
evening we did some shopping over at Coventry Asda and then headed home calling
in at the Anker on the way. Standing at the bar while Charlie pulled our
drinks, I noticed there was little stock on display. I asked Charlie about it
and he told us he was leaving at the end of the month. He’s not the owner see;
no, he’s the manager running it for Enterprise Inns. Having spent two years
there they were looking a large rent increase. Inflation I suppose, but the
rise they anticipated would have made impossible to make any profit. So they
are off to another place.
The
things is, it’s coming up three years since we moved in our flat here and
Charlie is the third manger in there. Enterprise did the same across the
previous two as they were planning to do with Charlie and Sam. I really can’t
understand these management companies you know. The turn-over of pub managers with
them must be pretty high. Is this short sightedness by them, or a deliberate
policy?
It’s
not just the rent increases though. It’s their wholesale drink prices too. Jan
likes the aclco-pops, Smirnoff Ice and WDK and Charlie used to stock them. Not
long after moving there he came to order his weekly stock and he was told that
there was increase in the cost. Charlie couldn’t justify the increase to his
customers and once his current stock had gone, that was it. Asda prices for the
same drinks was already cheaper than the Anker; the increase in prices meant
that Asda offer prices would have been selling two bottles for the price of one
in the pub.
It
is thought that Britain’s pubs are closing at around 30 a week. Is it any
wonder when management companies are doing this all the time? Apparent Charlie
has been told that the Anker will be converted to yet another convenience store.
When he closes in nine days’ time, our nearest pub will be the Chase Hotel,
about three times the distance of the Anker. There is the Rugby Club, just
across the road where Charlie and Sam are moving to, but Jan doesn’t fancy it,
thinking it will be very noisy over there. I shall give it a go later and see
how it is.
When
I think about it, Jan’s sister had similar problems with her last two pubs, one
close to Abingdon and one in Ringwood. Trish and Keith gave up and moved to Thailand
where one of her sons lives and works. They are very happy out there at the
moment.
Time
for a photo …
One of my candids.
And
today’s funny …
Have you noticed that all bottled water has the “best
before” date printed on it? The water has circled the earth for thousands of
years … but now it’s ruined?
No comments:
Post a Comment