Licensee Steve Banks, who runs the award-winning pub the Woodman in Ruislip, Middlesex, is partner in a second pub – also called the Woodman in Pinner. He was winner of Stonegate Pub of the Year 2023 at the Great British Pub Awards.
He said he and his business partner have decided to exit the Woodman in Pinner and have given notice on the lease as the pressures of doing business are just too high. His business partner has decided to retire and despite the pub being very successful, it just can’t trade profitably in the current climate.
He said the increased costs of running the business had put a strain on operations, with them having to look for cut price deals on supplies as well as cut staffing costs. His partner, who runs the pub, had also not been able to take a wage out the business for many months.
They took on the pub during the Covid lockdown and took it from a site with no customers to a very successful business with loyal locals. They have invested in the outside area and it has a function room that already has bookings as far ahead as December.
Profitability
“This weekend, in three days it took £20,000. It sounds like a lot of money but the next day, we have got a £13,000 coming out for the costs and various other things. We cannot make it work anymore and financially we cannot get a profit out of it,” he said.
“The cost of running a business is just crazy. We have just become under paid tax collectors. I don’t want to get to the stage where we find ourselves trading in debt.”
Banks said he would be focusing on his remaining pub The Woodman in Ruislip.
“You know one of the things that always hits home to me is I used to get up in the morning, go on the social media and look at what’s going on in the world. I now get up in the morning and the first thing I do is look at the bank account to see if there’s enough money to pay the bills that are coming out. You don’t want to live your life like that,” he said.
Government pressure
He suggested that a bigger chain that wants to introduce a wider food offer could be the right operator for the lease of the Woodman in Pinner, which he said is trading really well.
Banks leases both of his pubs from Stonegate, which he said had been “brilliant” to work with, and he could not speak more highly of his partnership with the company. He said they had always been supportive and had helped him to drive the businesses.
“The pressure and the strain that the Government are putting on us and every publican in the country just doesn’t make it worth it my while,” he said.
“It’s a hard game, but the thing is I absolutely love it. You know I thrive on it. It’s my life.”
