Pubs fear end of the road for Les Routiers UK
Hundreds of licensees could find themselves out of pocket after pub and restaurant guide Les Routiers failed to meet its 2007 UK publication deadline.
Les Routiers In Britain was due to hit the bookshelves at the beginning of October but there are now fears the guide will not see the light of day.
The website for the French-owned guide went down three weeks ago and there has been no answer from the offices of the franchise company which compiled the UK version.
I am as much in the dark as anybody else but it appears there are major problems Editor of the 2006 Les Routiers Guide, David Hancock.
Web host company Kehorne confirmed to the Morning Advertiser this week that it had been unable to contact its client.
Editor of the 2006 Guide David Hancock said he had worked on the guide in a limited capacity this year but his last contact with the company was in June.
"I am as much in the dark as anybody else but it appears there are major problems," he said.
Last year Les Routiers published a stand alone pub version of the guide but this year it was due to be merged back into the main publication.
Despite being a household name in guide circles Les Routiers has been a shrinking violet in the UK for some years.
Unlike its main competitors it was one of the few publications which still charged for a listing.
The standard pay-up-front charge for an entry is roughly £600, depending on the establishment and the facilities offered.
Licensee Nigel Williams of the Spread Eagle Hotel, Sawley, Lancashire, said he was contacted by Les Routiers 12 months ago.
"They promised our name would be lit up in lights but after the initial call we did not hear anything else.
"Entry was quite expensive but we do not pay for inclusion in guides in any case," he said.
Kathryn Chambers of the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Beetham, Cumbria, said: "We used to subscribe but decided to ditch it this year so perhaps we are very lucky."
It is understood the French and Irish version of Les Routiers are being published as normal.
