Special relationship: the trials of family-run pubs

There are family-run firms in all sorts of walks of business, but pub life brings extra stresses — like living in close proximity as well as working together. Phil Mellows talks to some pub partnerships at the top of their game.

For centuries pubs have been family businesses. The very term "public house" reflects its origins in people inviting others into their home and offering them family hospitality.

In recent decades, of course, many other kinds of pub have sprung up.

But the family-run house remains at the heart of the industry, and at the very centre of the local communities it serves. It is these outlets that offer a special experience, and earn the loyalty of customers who, in a way, become part of the family, too.

But it isn't easy.

Pub families have to survive working and living together in a confined space, coping with demanding customers and the financial and competitive pressures that have broken many a relationship.

Just how do they do it? We talk to seven families who are making a success of that special relationship.

Business brains in the family​

Later this year Peter Meads and his wife, Sheila, will celebrate 40 years at Charles Wells tenancy the Cross Keys at Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire. They've stayed together and brought up two sons at the pub, despite not agreeing on the venture at the beginning.

"Sheila was five months pregnant and thought it was a stupid idea, but her parents talked her into it. Her grandmother ran the famous Elephant & Castle in London during the war. It was in her blood and she didn't know it!

"With two children we had to extend the pub to give us more space. We built a professional kitchen and two more bedrooms.

"We've always worked in the business together. Sheila does the bar and the books and I do the cooking. Sheila's the brains, she controls the costs, and you've got to have one of you doing that.

"Our son, Paul, has his own business, but also has a share in the pub. It's a good partnership. It's good to have new ideas coming in. Our other son, Philip, is the practical one. He'll come in at weekends waving a screwdriver and asking what we need doing.

"My mum and dad used to help out on so it's always been a real family business. That's good because you get to know people locally and we keep our staff a long time. They become part of the family.

"I'm not retiring while I'm enjoying it, but I know Paul wants to take the pub over one day. And he's got a son, too. It could be a third generation in the business!"

78 years and counting​

The Hallworth family has tenanted Frederic Robinson's Davenport Arms near Stockport for 78 years. The business was founded by the great grandfather of current licensee Yvonne Hallworth. But she nearly didn't carry on the family tradition, showing luck — or bad luck — plays its part.

"I wanted to join the police force, that was my dream. But I failed on my eyesight, so I went to college and took a receptionist course. Then in 1981 my dad and mum were ill so I came back to help — and I never left.

"There's something about the pub. It's got an atmosphere and it's a nice tradition to carry on. Hopefully my son Jack, who's 18, will carry it on, too. He works here part-time and he likes it, but he's at that age when he doesn't really know what he wants to do.

"When you've been in a pub as long as I have, it's a way of life, you don't know anything else. There's not a lot of privacy, you don't get much time to yourself.

"People outside don't understand. It's like working a double shift every day. It's hard to have a normal relationship. But it's what you know. I suppose you can either do it or you can't. And it's in my blood."

Excellent extension​

Sometimes an extended family can provide a full team. Carol Camish runs Wadworth's tenancy the Poplars at Wingfield, Wiltshire, with husband Bernie, daughters Samantha and Ria, and their respective partners, James and Ben.

"We have our own niches in the business — I do the finances, Samantha and Ria work in the restaurant, James is behind the bar, Ben is head chef and Bernie is the DIY man.

"Things don't always run smoothly. When there's four or five of you involved there's bound to be disagreements. But it always comes right at the end of the day.

"We have monthly meetings and get everything off our chests. You've got to do that I think. And as in every relationship there's got to be give and take."

Third-generation tenants​

The Pembles are relative newcomers, notching up a mere 52 years at Shepherd Neame's Pepper Box at Ulcombe, Kent. Sarah Pemble is the third generation and runs the tenancy with husband Geoff and daughter Sophie.

"We've all got the same passion for the business. It's been in the family for so long, and you get possessive about it.

"Customers like to know there's continuity in a pub business. Some of them have been coming in here for all those 52 years and they're on their third generation, too.

"We've brought Sophie into the business gradually, as I was brought in under my parents. She knows everybody, all the locals, and that's great.

"And it's good to know Geoff and I can leave the pub in family hands when we're away."

Back from retirement​

Marilyn Maclean returned with husband David from retirement in France to run Everards tenancy the Artichoke at Moulton, Northamptonshire, with their son Graham.

"We took early retirement too early and got bored. We decided to take a pub and asked Graham if he'd come in with us. He'd been a pub manager for eight years.

"At first we all moved into the private accommodation upstairs and quickly realised three was too many, so we bought a house round the corner and that's where we have our days off, and we come back refreshed.

"Graham is very easy-going and we respect his experience. He's in charge of the wet side, David is a chef by trade and functions are down to me. We discuss everything and we all back any decisions made.

"It's great to work as a family. A lot of families come in here and they feel relaxed and safe in the pub. They like to know there's a family running it."

Surrey siblings on track​

Zoe Zarkovic teamed up with younger brother Neal — who was working for JD Wetherspoon — and mum Poppy, to take on Admiral pub the Railway in Sutton, Surrey.

"My brother and I have very different roles in the business. He's in the bar and a real people person, and I do everything else, basically. We have our moments, like siblings do, but it's easy to forget it and carry on — more so than when you work with a friend.

"Mum is just great, brilliant and very helpful. She comes round to eat in the evenings and we discuss things together over dinner. I suppose I'm the one who makes the business decisions, but we talk a lot."

Happy to help​

Frankie Miller and her mother, Judie, have run Greene King tenancy the Maypole in Thaxted, Essex, for two months, after a year managing the Swan at nearby Wickford together.

"It's early days, but we're going in the right direction. We work really well together, it's a good relationship. We have our moments, but mostly we get on brilliantly. It's corny but Mum is more like a friend.

"We've no other staff at the moment so we work together morning, noon and night. We make sure we have days off and time to ourselves, and we respect each other's space and privacy.

"The flat above the pub is divided into two — so at the end of the day it's like going to your own home.

"We all muck in — our partners too, when they come home from work. It's always been a strong family. Customers have remarked it's nice to see a family happy to help each other out."