Threatened Stansted pub replaces landlord Punch with BAA

A pair of licensees who were at risk from the proposed second runway at Stansted airport are celebrating after successfully engineering a deal to replace their landlord Punch Taverns with airport owner and operator BAA.

Paul Holmes and Alan Simons, joint owners of the Antique Pub Company, had been at the 16th century Three Horseshoes pub in Molehill Green, Hertfordshire, for the past five years under a 25-year lease with Punch Taverns.

The Grade II listed pub had been earmarked as having a compulsory purchase order on it should the airport expansion go ahead. There are plans for it to be demolished and rebuilt outside of the airport boundary.

However, the pair agreed a deal with Punch Taverns to buy the pub's freehold at the end of July. They then sold it two days later to BAA and agreed a new five year free-of-tie lease.

BAA is obligated to offer voluntary schemes to buy properties affected by the plans. It came to light this week that the company has so far purchased 270 properties in the area.

Holmes said they had made a reasonable profit from the sale of the freehold and were now making significant savings on rent.

"The business was blighted as there was a compulsory purchase order hanging over it from the airport," he said. "We were beginning to lose interest in the pub because we couldn't sell it or do anything with it.

"This was an absolutely blinding deal. We are saving 35-40 per cent on beer, so we have put all our prices down for the locals, which is unheard of in this day and age. It's a real success story. It's lovely. We have been in limbo over the last five years and now finally we feel it has been resolved."

Mark Davison, head of media relations at Stansted Airport, said: "The licensees came to us with an opportunity for us to buy the pub and then lease it back to them. Their proposal was that it was of benefit to the local community as it would boost trade to run it as a freehouse and would secure the future of the pub."

Davison confirmed that the long-term future of the pub would depend on a planning decision on whether the airport expansion will go ahead. This cannot be taken until a probe by the Competition Commission is concluded. BAA has appealed a ruling by the commission that it should sell Stansted, Gatwick and a Scottish airport.