Blog Tracker
09-11-2023, 11:30
Visit The Pub Curmudgeon site (https://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2023/11/passing-on-torch.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16ws-Uyd-e9ae49QWdVUA1GMigJobYY9bB4fyoBasIz57rLTbNhBaEneVji tUSOekpPW50EEgHxO2F1PVZko1Ubq-ai4CC5mxQtWXK0-lur5P2UKkhbnLB4A1hYNOOwoN8CqtU6gyS0zDJYW4Xc0P7H10Z rPWGJ8sD17BMD3fSVOSZ71tUFUbfPYDeXk/s200/laurieston-bar.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16ws-Uyd-e9ae49QWdVUA1GMigJobYY9bB4fyoBasIz57rLTbNhBaEneVji tUSOekpPW50EEgHxO2F1PVZko1Ubq-ai4CC5mxQtWXK0-lur5P2UKkhbnLB4A1hYNOOwoN8CqtU6gyS0zDJYW4Xc0P7H10Z rPWGJ8sD17BMD3fSVOSZ71tUFUbfPYDeXk/s900/laurieston-bar.jpg)
The well-known Laurieston Bar (https://whatpub.com/pubs/GLA/0750/laurieston-bar-glasgow) in Glasgow has been put on the market (https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23864797.glasgows-enduring-love-laurieston-bar-listed-sale/) due to the retirement of the owners John and James Clancy, who have run it for forty years. I’ve never been there, but from the description it sounds a splendid establishment, and by all accounts is something of a local institution. It also has a striking, unspoilt 1960s interior that qualifies for a three-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory (https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/360). Let us hope that they can find new owners who will carry on its traditions.
However, this illustrates a fundamental problem for owner-managed pubs and bars. Whenever the time comes round for the current owners to retire, they have to find someone else to take it on, and there’s no guarantee that its character will be maintained , or indeed that it will remain as a pub at all. Obviously breweries and pub companies have a far from flawless track record in keeping pubs open, but at least when one licensee retires there is the opportunity to maintain continuity by installing a replacement. With the free house, every time a licensee retires or wants to leave the trade, it is put “in play”.
Only this week, there has been another example of this more locally with the Wharf (https://macclesfield.nub.news/news/local-news/east-macclesfield-community-pub-goes-up-for-sale-210090) in Macclesfield which, like the Laurieston, is a current Good Beer Guide entry.
More... (https://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2023/11/passing-on-torch.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16ws-Uyd-e9ae49QWdVUA1GMigJobYY9bB4fyoBasIz57rLTbNhBaEneVji tUSOekpPW50EEgHxO2F1PVZko1Ubq-ai4CC5mxQtWXK0-lur5P2UKkhbnLB4A1hYNOOwoN8CqtU6gyS0zDJYW4Xc0P7H10Z rPWGJ8sD17BMD3fSVOSZ71tUFUbfPYDeXk/s200/laurieston-bar.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16ws-Uyd-e9ae49QWdVUA1GMigJobYY9bB4fyoBasIz57rLTbNhBaEneVji tUSOekpPW50EEgHxO2F1PVZko1Ubq-ai4CC5mxQtWXK0-lur5P2UKkhbnLB4A1hYNOOwoN8CqtU6gyS0zDJYW4Xc0P7H10Z rPWGJ8sD17BMD3fSVOSZ71tUFUbfPYDeXk/s900/laurieston-bar.jpg)
The well-known Laurieston Bar (https://whatpub.com/pubs/GLA/0750/laurieston-bar-glasgow) in Glasgow has been put on the market (https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23864797.glasgows-enduring-love-laurieston-bar-listed-sale/) due to the retirement of the owners John and James Clancy, who have run it for forty years. I’ve never been there, but from the description it sounds a splendid establishment, and by all accounts is something of a local institution. It also has a striking, unspoilt 1960s interior that qualifies for a three-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory (https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/360). Let us hope that they can find new owners who will carry on its traditions.
However, this illustrates a fundamental problem for owner-managed pubs and bars. Whenever the time comes round for the current owners to retire, they have to find someone else to take it on, and there’s no guarantee that its character will be maintained , or indeed that it will remain as a pub at all. Obviously breweries and pub companies have a far from flawless track record in keeping pubs open, but at least when one licensee retires there is the opportunity to maintain continuity by installing a replacement. With the free house, every time a licensee retires or wants to leave the trade, it is put “in play”.
Only this week, there has been another example of this more locally with the Wharf (https://macclesfield.nub.news/news/local-news/east-macclesfield-community-pub-goes-up-for-sale-210090) in Macclesfield which, like the Laurieston, is a current Good Beer Guide entry.
More... (https://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2023/11/passing-on-torch.html)