Newcomers: it's good to talk

As far as we were concerned the only stumbling block so far in advancing with our application was the level of rent asked by the pubco. The pub has been closed for a few months and we felt that, to give us a fighting chance, the rent should be set at a figure that should reflect its recent eclectic trading history.

If we take on the pub, our priorities will be to get the place open so that we can begin recouping our initial layout and start building the business. It will take time to do and a large rent hanging around our necks will only make a difficult process even harder.

We scheduled another meeting with the pubco to see if there was any way we could come to an agreement. We both felt that to have made it this far it would make sense to see if we could salvage something through negotiation on the rent figure.

The meeting went on quite a while, we repeatedly put our reasons for wanting a good deal on the rent and the pubco kept giving us reasons why we should pay what they wanted. It took a while but we eventually came to an agreement that saw the rent start off low - although not as low as we had wished or were led to believe - then would be stepped up over a period of time. It seemed to us a fair compromise, and probably the best that we could have hoped for in the circumstances.

After settling our differences about the rent, we then sat down to exchange the necessary details entitling us to enter us into a formal (but not yet legally binding agreement) to formally express an interest in the lease. What that means is that at present we are the only ones who can be offered the lease and that our lawyers and the pubco's lawyers can contact each other to start on the legal paperwork necessary to take things further.

All we have to do now is await the bank's decision on our funding!