This morning BBC Radio Devon shone the spotlight on the difficulties facing pubs. It included a range of interviews includiing Ian Packham from CAMRA, as well as a landlord in Dalton who having found businesss all too difficult & was giving up running a pub, and this was contrasted with a couple who, also in Dalton, were clear that they could make a real go of running a pub.
Save The Red Lion Campaign was interviewed live on air about why the Red Lion was up for sale & whether we thought that the local community would support it into the future. A statement from the pub's current owner Punch Taverns was read out in which it argued that the Red Lion was not viable & that was the reason why it had decided to sell the pub.
Surprisingly Punch Taverns made no mention of the fact that it was £2.4bn in debt & needed to raise some money, which must be a significant factor in their decision to sell the pub. Punch Taverns made no mention that it has no local links as it is a huge pub company which owns thousands of pubs and that it has its head office miles away from Sidbury in Burton upon Trent.
Punch Taverns made no mention of the fact that by tying the pub & its landlord to purchasing beer only from it that this made the profit margin for the landlord far less than would be available for an independent pub. Punch Taverns made no mention of the fact that it has not invested in the pub & that this has affected its performance.
Perhaps Punch Taverns should sell the Red Lion to the Campaign at a realistic price so that it can run it as aviable business for the community. Come on Punch Taverns do the right thing by the local community!
Radio Devon allowed the Campaign to explain that it has local support to retain the pub & that this can be turned into local support for the Red Lion into the future.
Many thanks to Devon Radio for the oportunity to promote the Campaign to its listeners across the county. We will come back any time you ask!
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