WHEN Robin Carter left the Sudeley Arms by Enterprise Inns, giving up on the trade was the furthest thing from his mind.

Instead, the 52-year-old took on a new premises across town and made his pub a roaring success.

The purchase from Punch Taverns in November 2009 meant he was no longer trading within the limitations of a large pub company and gave him free rein to build his own business.

Free of the tie to a pub company, Mr Carter said he was able to transform the Hatherley Street venue into a thriving community pub and earn a decent living wage.

He said: “Due to inflated rents and product prices it has become increasingly difficult for anyone to make profit, let alone good profit out of running your stereotypical corner pub.

“No serious business person is going to work more than 100 hours a week for very little return.”

Since taking on the business he has turned it into a popular pub well-known for real ale. He has also opened a kitchen.

Mr Carter’s experience of owning his own pub contrasts markedly with his time as a leaseholder.

He had invested cash into a revamp of the Sudeley Arms in 2008, but lasted just three months after Enterprise Inns terminated the tenancy agreement.

Prior to his time at the Prestbury Road inn, he had also run two other pubs as a tenant.

He says that the onslaught of closures can be partly attributed to pub companies swallowing up more and more buildings as an easy way to show profit on investments.

He said: “For the past 20 years property prices, including pubs, had increased so dramatically that the large pub companies had been able to show their shareholders very good returns on their investments purely by the increased value of its estate.

“When in recent years property prices stabilised and even diminished, the large pub companies found themselves in somewhat of a dilemma, that being how to actually make an operating profit?

“It’s a problem which I think they have still not found an answer to.”

But Mr Carter is convinced that the trade could be saved from doom if the rules were changed to give greater protection against housing plans.

“When a pub company pub shuts, don’t let it be sold for any other purpose than that of a pub,” he said.

“What happens then? Serious business people and professional licensees, rather than those having to get into bed with a pub company, will be able to afford to take the risk of buying it and turning it into something uniquely British – the hub of the community.”

Note:-Moral of this story, don’t take a Pub Co Lease or Tenancy if you want to make a  living and a career.

Enterprise at its glorious best, terminate Robin’s tenancy, doing Robin a great favour he buys  Punch cast off pub and makes a success of it.

Two major Pub Co’s, one doesn’t recognise talent and the other doesn’t recognise a viable pub, what doe sthat say for the Pub Co model or their management?????

The views expressed are not necessarily the editors and www.buyingapub.com accepts no responsibility for them, we do try to avoid offensive or litigious statements being made. They are written by concerned professionals in the industry who feel that these issues should be raised to ensure that all licensees are made fully aware of many hidden pitfalls.