‘Bitten off more than they can chew,’ warns landlady of liquidated pub

Ashley Bird, along with her father, managed and maintained the Three Crowns in Bristol, St George, for the past three years, but was forced to leave the business on 8 October.

The Morning Advertiser ​(MA​) understands the business was owned by Mr Bird’s brother-in-law as part of a portfolio and was run by him and his daughter.

As part of the agreement, the Birds did not have to pay rent, but had to manage the upkeep of the pub.

However, the holding company that owned the pub went into liquidation when the majority shareholder of the business hit financial trouble, resulting in the liquidation of the company, which included the sale of the pub.

A liquidator, along with chartered accountants and business advisors Haslers, were brought in to manage the sale of the estate, including other retail properties, resulting in the eviction of the tenants in the Three Crowns.

In a bid to save the pub, the Birds and the local community applied for the popular local to be made an asset of community value (ACV), in which they succeeded.

Failed attempts​

Several failed attempts to acquire the pub or stay on as tenants were made by the Birds, leaving them and the community to petition to stop it being redeveloped into housing.

Ashley maintains the liquidators have made it exceptionally hard for her and the community to retain the building as a pub, which it has been for almost 200 years.

“From our point of view, the pub was making a profit and it was a viable business,” explained Ashely.

“I came in three years ago and turned it around, getting pool teams playing here and the community involved.

“If you look around the area about 20 pubs have closed recently on this side of Bristol and have been turned into flats – we don’t need any more houses.”

She continued: “The liquidators are so unreasonable, I have called lots of times to offer rent and nothing has happened.

“If they think this whole mess is going to go away, then they’re wrong. They’ve bitten off more than they can chew, the community is really angry that they are losing their pub – it’s not going to go away.”

Market rate value​

Ashley also claimed she had offered to buy the pub for its market rate value – what she claimed was between £250,000 and £300,000 – but was told it was worth up to £150,000 more by those involved in the sale of the property.

There is a worry the current owners or whoever buys the pub will wait for the ACV to run out before making a change of use application to turn it into housing.

An attempt to rent the pub had also been made, but was rejected, claimed Ashley.

Haslers insolvency partner Dominic Dumville told MA ​it was not in the liquidator’s interest to enter into a lease agreement with a tenant.

There was no record of the former tenant paying rent, making it difficult to understand how viable a business it was, he said.

Dumville added the liquidator was looking to sell the pub and if the former tenants could come up with the funds, then they could make an offer to buy the pub.

However, Dumville refused to comment on whether a buyer for the property had already been found, but said there had been interest in it.