Petition launched to save the Alma in Newington Green
Campaigners fear that pub could also be facing the possibility of a change of use.
A petition has been set up by “Battle for the Alma” and it is calling for support for the pub to be registered as an Asset of Community Value.
Currently, 258 people have signed the petition.
However, Enterprise have refuted the claims saying there are no plans to change the use of the premises.
In May, Enterprise lessee Kirsty Valentine lost her appeal hearing against Enterprise Inns at the Shoreditch and Clerkenwell County Court. Valentine, was the third licensee to go through Pubs Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service (PICA-Service) and the first to lose a case. She had accused Enterprise of not assessing her rent properly and misleading her into signing a rent review.
Beer writer Pete Brown has waded into the dispute saying that Valentine “is an instinctive publican” who knows how to operate a good pub.
In his latest blog he said: “What I’m saying is, to any rational observer, the Alma looks about as different from the idea of a ‘failed or failing pub’ as you can possibly imagine.”
He added: “The result of her fight is that Enterprise now want her out of the business she has built up, and will shortly be taking legal action in an attempt to make that happen.
“Should Enterprise be victorious, apart from a brilliant publican facing financial ruin and losing her home, there are two possible consequences: one is that Enterprise stick in another tenant. The other is that they close the pub down, and sell it for redevelopment, with a change of use stipulation - a fairly common practice.”
Enterprise Inns does not own the freehold of the premises. But in a statement said: “We have a long-term leasehold interest in the site and plan to continue to operate it as a pub.”
