Tanya Williams, who is quitting the Polgooth Inn with husband Alex, said that her pub company, St Austell had been great, but she suggested the tenancy model needs to be reconsidered.
“I do think in general the tenancy models might need to be addressed in the future, I’m not sure if they’re a little bit archaic now. I don’t know what that looks like, I’ll be honest.
“We have worked for [St Austell] for 25 years because they are a good company to work for, and I can’t see how they can do more in the present model to support.
“They are working hard with the tenants and being a lot more supportive. But where does that end? If you’re not careful you’re back to being a managed pub again.
Victims of success
“Long term, all the pub industry needs to look at their tenancy model and maybe have a think about it, and how they can support in better ways.”
She said that perhaps she and her husband were victims of their own success. “We’re at a stage in the industry where the smaller pubs are slightly better off - the bigger the business, rather than being more successful the more challenges they face - smaller businesses with limited staff are thriving and doing well, and unfortunately we’ve developed ours into a bit of a beast and its bitten us on the bum!”
Tanya and Alex took the title of BII Licensee of the Year in 2018 but she said the same issues she’d been campaigning on in 2019, like business rates, were still unchanged.
Issues still being addressed
Eventually the couple realised they had reached the end of the road in the sector: “Up until a year ago, we felt there was light at the end of the tunnel, despite everything that had happened, we thought things were going to get better.
“And then, for the first time it hit us last year, that actually, it’s not looking likely that things are going to get any better - the NI changes in the budget, VAT is still not being addressed. I went to parliament in 2019 to talk about business rates, and they’re still here six years later.
“It’s not going to change in the next few years.
“We want to get out while we still love the industry, rather than in a couple of years when we might not. As a publican we always think things are going to get better - but unfortunately for us, I can’t feel that anymore.”
- To hear more of Tanya’s thoughts on leaving the sector, watch the video above.