The difficulties facing pubs in Suffolk have been highlighted over the Christmas and New Year period, with some reporting good trade, while another business has had to close following a 90% fall in income.
Paul Summers had run the Railway Tavern in Saxmundham with wife Julie for four years, but on Friday the Albion Street premises closed due to dwindling numbers of customers.
He revealed that last year he had been able to spend nearly £4,000 on his pre-Christmas beer order, but this year he did not even have £400 in the bank to buy in his festive drinks of beer, spirits, coca-cola, mixers and gins.
The situation has led to him finding work as a lorry driver with Bartrums in Eye to ensure he has a steady income, while his wife works for a GP surgery in Aldeburgh.
He believed the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy bills had had an impact on his trade as customers looked to cut costs, adding if the choice was between going out and heating the home, the latter would always take priority.
“It is a horrendous decrease in footfall and money. I have actually taken another job because I can not afford to live,” Mr Summers said.
The opening of the Railway Tavern was featured in the EADT in October 2018 when Mr Summers described how the pub had been ‘rammed’ for the England vs Croatia semi-final match at the 2018 World Cup.
At the time, he pledged to put his ‘heart and soul’ into making the pub a success and had spent thousands of pounds refitting the site.
Mr Summers added: “I have always loved the pub trade so getting back into it was a dream come true for me, but it has turned into a nightmare situation with everything that is happening and I have got to close.”
However, the picture was more positive for other pubs, especially businesses serving food, which reported good bookings for Christmas meals.
Teresa Brinkley, landlady of The Bramford Cock, said her pub had done 45 Christmas meals.
She said: “It has gone quite well, to be fair. We did 45 Christmas meals. Friday was a bit quiet because everyone is getting ready for the New Year celebrations tonight.”
Although November had been a quiet month, she said customers were probably saving up for the Christmas and New Year festivities and the last week had ‘helped out big time’ and made up for the quiet period.
Paul Simmons, a duty manager at the Golden Boar in Freckenham, said Christmas trade had also been good, though he warned of tough times ahead during the quieter January to March period.
He said: “It has been as good as we could have hoped for and it is just nice to see people out and about. There are still tough times ahead but we are grateful that people are still coming out.”
He added the New Year celebrations would be a good indicator of how things were going to go and said although the pub had not been at capacity during the Christmas period, there had still been good takings.
Steve Lomas, managing director of Deben Inns, which owns seven pubs in the county, said festive trade had been ‘strong’.
He added: “Thankfully the Deben Inns have seen strong trade over the festive period and it’s looking buoyant into the new year. It was great to see the parties back following the previous two COVID Christmases.
“Currently, I’m cautiously optimistic for the coming year if government support to domestic and commercial energy supplies can be maintained.
“We have been working hard to bring some great value deals to our customers to help through the coming months.”
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