Leicestershire pub forced to close after losing £71,000 rent case

Licensees of a village's only pub say they have been forced to close because they cannot afford to pay back rent arrears built up during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Nick Holden and Kate Ahrens, who have run The Geese and Fountain in Croxton Kerrial for eight years, served their last pints on Monday.

The couple lost a case against their landlords, The Wellington Pub Company, which is demanding £71,000.

The company has declined to comment.

Mr Holden and Ms Ahrens, who also live at the pub near Melton Mowbray, said they faced being made homeless, as well as jobless, when their lease was terminated.

Twenty staff, mostly part-time, have lost their jobs after the pub closed for the last time.

The couple said they had been in a dispute with the firm over rents since March 2020 when lockdown forced them to close the business.

The couple launched an appeal against the company's pursuit of unpaid rent through an arbitration process established by the government.

However, the arbitrator found in Wellington's favour and said the couple would have to repay the sum in monthly instalments of £2,946.31 over two years.

The Guardian reported some 250 of Wellington's tenants, in a pressure group led by Mr Holden and Ms Ahrens, find themselves facing full arrears repayments.

The couple said they could not afford an extra £3,000 a month, plus £5,000 a month in continuing rent, and that the decision had left them "heartbroken" and "devastated".

Ms Ahrens said: "This pub was our whole lives. This has been the place for the social life of the village, and I like to think we were responsible for that.

"We have seen people develop relationships in this pub - make friends, meet their life partners - and all of that will be gone.

"It's a devastating blow for villages to lose their only pub. We are a social hub."

She said the pub had suffered from reduced custom because of the cost-of-living crisis, and that some villagers were looking at ways of raising funds to set up a community pub.

"I think the reality is that probably nobody will ever re-open this pub again. I really hope I'm wrong," she added.

Mr Holden said: "We moved into an empty pub that was dead and brought it back to life. We got it to be the heart of the village.

"We are losing our livelihoods. We have had to tell our staff they are losing their jobs and our suppliers that we won't be able to buy their beer and produce any more."

Insurance companies had not paid out on business interruption cover and there had not been enough government support, he said.

He said Wellington's lawyers had already sent letters demanding money, adding: "We expect them to make us bankrupt and at that point we lose the pub."

Pubs Advisory Service, set up to resolve rent disputes from the pandemic, has supported about 60 businesses nationally to claim rent support through the government arbitration process.

Director Chris Wright said: "Publicans, along with many other types of businesses, closed in order to save the NHS and uphold the health policy of people right across the UK.

"They did their bit. They were looking for support and help and at their time of need. The insurance let them down and then the government set up a scheme that has created more victims and let them down."

The government said it was committed to supporting businesses but could not comment on The Geese and Fountain's individual case.

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