“We are here for the foreseeable future,” declare the landlords of a pub in Westbury village as they strive to resolve a dispute with the brewery owners, Stonegate, over their lease.
Lee and Gemma Whitelock signed a temporary six-month lease 14 months ago for The White Horse, in the High Street, with consideration to take it to a full five-year lease, and have been on a rolling month-by-month lease since then. However, they were dismayed to see the pub recently marketed for sale on property websites, as well as appearing on local news sites and on social media – without their knowledge.
“We only knew about this when several people told us what they’d seen,” said Lee. “Stonegate did this without telling us. We have been in negotiations about signing the five-year lease, but have been reluctant to do so as we’d have to bear the costs of repair and renovation, which have been quoted as around £50k, and we’d be unable to cover that.
“And so now we feel our hand is being forced by their threats to sell the pub. Even if we did sign, there is no guarantee it would be taken off the market.”
Gemma, who ran pubs elsewhere in Bristol for seven years, and Lee, originally an electrician for 24 years, say that they have already spent around £30k of their own money on doing up the 18th-century building, which is listed in parts. Most of this is not visible as it involves the kitchen, cellar, damp-proofing, as well as buying fixtures and fittings.
The pub had been empty for some time following previous unsuccessful tenancies, and had fallen into disrepair and neglect.
The pub regularly holds music events, parties, hosts local groups and other functions, but Gemma explained: “We have had so many cancellations for the next few weeks, parties and other bookings. People aren’t going to be confident about holding their event here, when they can’t be sure we’ll be here either.
“And we even had to close completely one Friday evening – our busiest night of the week – when asbestos contractors couldn’t agree whether or not there was a problem and couldn’t provide the necessary reports.”
The couple say they have had the pub twice as long as anyone else over the last 15 years but fear that it won’t remain as a pub if it is sold. They described the plans they have for the place, including decorating, making a new outside space and regenerating the village’s Christmas lights.
In statements issued on social media they said: “We truly value the support we get from each and every one of you, and urge you to stick with us as we continue to strive for pub excellence.
“We hope to have these issues resolved very soon so we can get back to improving and refurbishing the pub, step by step, and implement lots of exciting plans we have for the place. Thank you to each and every person who has supported us and continues to do so.”
Discussions and negotiations with Stonegate remain ongoing, but Lee and Gemma are refusing to give up without a fight.
“We just want to be a community pub.” they insist, “We cannot just let it close after so much work.”
Stonegate was contacted for comment, but had not responded to the Voice’s request at the time of going to print.