Buying a pub in the peaks

We once were a proud nation of beer monsters where the average working man existed in varying states of inebriation. This is no longer the case and pubs all over the country are on their arses.

Will selling a couple of extra bags of crips to weekend mtb’s be enough?

I would ignore everything on this thread and do some serious research, specifically pubs that work (as in make a profit not just look busy) and the local market / location.

one thing to watch out for – if you’re not actually buying it but are leasing – keep an eye out for a fully repairing lease clause. Publicans assume these aren’t enforced but some of the breweries / pubCo’s are completely screwing their tenants over in order to get very long term building defects repaired at no expense to themselves. If it’s got a clause like that in the contract and the building isn’t in good nick then walk away.

Without seeing the place or knowing the financial details involved…

You seem to have quite a good handle on things (multiple income stream ideas as the stw hive mind suggest, not being too posh food wise, simple short & fresh menu etc) and being the chef yourself will remove one of the largest costs in kitchen wages and put you in control of the most important thing you sell.

Listen to lots of trade advice if you can, but don’t take most of it, just absorb it.

Suggestion… You sound like you know what a cyclist wants from a pub, so why don.t you talk to serious walkers, horseriders etc to find out what they want (and build contacts..)

As you can probably guess what I do for a living from my username, feel free to contact me if you need any pointers…

Good luck!

+1 Farmer john…

campsite and floodlit pumptrack 8)

one thing to watch out for – if you’re not actually buying it but are leasing – keep an eye out for a fully repairing lease clause. Publicans assume these aren’t enforced but some of the breweries / pubCo’s are completely screwing their tenants over in order to get very long term building defects repaired at no expense to themselves. If it’s got a clause like that in the contract and the building isn’t in good nick then walk away.

+1 like any business we were screwed over on dilapidations clause(s) in our old office. A professional Surveyor came round and spent a day measuring, gauging etc and his report was almost 30pages long.

Yes you’ve got to be careful, my mrs works for one of the largest pub companies in the country and they can be brutal, worked at loads of star restaurants over the years and one of the first pubs to have one, there isn’t many of my mates who’ve got a good word to say about her company. All that being said you already said its a freehold property, which will be good as you’re not tied to purchasing, you just need to find out who looks after your lines, might be InBev.

campsite and floodlit pumptrack

Now we’re talking 😀

Kids food – every pub I have ever been in is unwilling to recognise that a three year old will eat less than a ten year old (if they welcome kids at all – families spend lots!). Sensibly priced, flexible portions of REAL food, not this de-frosted, deep fried rubbish will get families coming back for more. A family on hols for a week will remember good family orientated service and will pass on your name by word of mouth. We could learn a lot from the Italians in that respect…

Obviously, the two bar area suggestions above will keep my grotty little oiks well away from the crank polishing, half a cider nursing mtbers who appear to want you to wash their bikes while they eat…

If bikers are your main target – a chargeable shower option could be worth considering if you have outbuildings that could be used. Even day trippers will value being warm and clean on their drive home. Tis going beyond the ‘pub’ theme though.

I work at at a pub just into the Peak District. The food is brilliant, and that’s what brings customers to any pub. Reasonable car park and plenty of parking on the road means we get lots of walkers. Freeholding too, so guest beers are easy to sort. Irrelevant to me working there, I’d highly recommend it to anyone. We’re busy whenever I’m working, but other pubs locally have struggled, then seem to be bought by someone else, who struggles and sells on, until they shut up shop for good. If you can do good food and beer and have good off-road parking I think you’ll do well. Where are you looking at?

I say, buy the pub and then put every single decision to the forum vote and see how it goes

Sambob = are you old enough to work in a pub? 😉

Not behind the bar, they keep me at the back of the kitchen 😉

Duggan – that is a great idea!

can’t please everyone mate.

i.e.

dogs under tables and decent beer. – gets a tick from me

snotty families in whinging that their three year old is being fed inappropriately, despite them taking it to a pub(?) for lunch – big cross from me.

you wont get chaps in drinking if you’re making a family restaurant.

their three year old is being fed inappropriately

Does this happen? I don’t think I have ever seen it.

maybe inappropriately is the wrong word.

de-frosted, deep fried rubbish

= proper pub food.

The Peak is popular because it is close to large conurbations to the East and West. People tend not to go there to stay overnight, and in my/our case, we never thought about sitting down for meals or drinks after riding because after we’d been there all day, we just wanted to get off home again.

I’d be careful that you don’t over-estimate the amount of trade that mountain bikers bring; they tend to spend most of their time away riding, not dining. Unless you cater for the entire tourist market, the coach trips, the day trippers, the families who visit, I suspect you won’t make as much as you think.

It’s not Peebles, where the distance people travel makes them a captive audience, it’s an hour or so away from home for many, and I suspect they will choose to be home in an hour rather than be home in three hours £15 or so worse off with a full tummy.

yurp. the pubs round here are full when the sun comes out on a sunday. RAMMED full, everyone having one or two drinks then moving on.

it’s only the big shite-fest pubs like the fox house that churn out meals all day long. and to call that a pub in the land of proper pubs is bloody sacrilegious.

People tend not to go there to stay overnight

I reckon there’s a whole load of Peak District hotels, B & Bs, campsites, bunk houses and caravan parks that would contest that statement. I live in the Peak District and I’ve been known to have a local weekend away in a bunk house with the bike. You’ve also got the Pennine Bridleway that runs through the Peak District and that’s a big old route that needs stay-overs.

Is there a market? Yes. Is it big enough to make a good living? That I don’t know. The Royal Oak at Hurdlow serves enormous plates of tasty food, always seems busy and has bunkhouses* and camping. I’ve often thought they could expand to provide a livery for bikes too…or at least a lock up.

*hottest showers ever

tracknicko – assume you don’t have kids? That is a good thing…

___________
their three year old is being fed inappropriately
___________

Does this happen? I don’t think I have ever seen it.

Just read “I’d sooner starve” by Mark Sinclair, okay it’s not about a pub and maybe it has been exaggerated to accentuate the comedy (although maybe not?) but it made me think that the “Great British Public” are a bunch of self centred idiots. Other nation’s flavours of self centred idiocy are probably available but it’s a little depressing.

tracknicko – assume you don’t have kids? That is a good thing…

the less of me the better no doubt.