Enterprise cuts tie to rescue pub
Enterprise Inns has agreed to relax its strict tied beer rules to help a microbrewer rescue a remote Cumbrian village pub.
Enterprise: relaxed tie to help save pub
The giant pubco says it will allow the Hesket Newmarket Brewery to sell its cask ales at the Shepherds Inn, Melmerby, which has been closed for the past six months.
The brewery, which is run by a co-operative, successfully negotiated the tie concession as a condition for taking on the pub.
It is thought the free-of-tie cask agreement is one the first of its kind to be sanctioned by a major national pubco.
Brewery manager Andy Webster said the agreement allowed the company to showcase six of its cask ales in the pub.
“We are tied for everything else, including lager and cider, but Enterprise has been concessionary on the rent and has spent a lot of money doing up the pub to get it re-opened,” he said.
Enterprise said the tie deal had been agreed to reopen a vital local facility and help revitalise the village.
The brewery is located behind the village’s Old Crown pub, which is also run by a co-operative.
Prince Charles visited the pub and brewery two years ago in his capacity as patron of Pub is the Hub.
The Shepherds was due to be officially reopens on Wednesday by celebrity mountaineer Chris Bonnington, a member of the brewery co-operative who lives in Hesket Newmarket.
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