Landlords calling time at The Apsley House

The landlords of the Southsea pub are leaving after 24 years

Transcript

00:00 - How good does that ever be?

00:02 - Camera's running.

00:03 - Right, I'm Paul Wicks, the landlord of the Absolie House

00:08 and this is my wife, Claire Wicks.

00:09 - Okay, hello, Paul and Claire, hello.

00:12 Absolie House in Southsea?

00:14 - In Southsea, yeah.

00:14 - Okay, and what's happening here, Paul?

00:18 - We're going through a lease renewal

00:19 and we can't seem to find any middle ground

00:23 with the pub company we're dealing with.

00:25 - Okay.

00:26 - And so we feel that after 24 years,

00:28 it's time for us to move on because in the current climate,

00:33 it's just not financially viable to carry on

00:35 running the pub under the present terms.

00:37 - And 24 years, I mean, leaving after 24 years,

00:41 how does that feel?

00:42 - Gutting.

00:43 - Life-changing.

00:44 - Yeah, really upsetting because it's not just the pub

00:47 where we serve people, it's like a family.

00:50 - Okay.

00:50 - The customers who come in here have been coming in

00:52 for years and they can enjoy themselves

00:55 and it's a proper pub.

00:56 And unfortunately, proper pubs are not financially viable

01:00 to the pub company.

01:02 - Okay, so I think I'm right in saying

01:05 that your last day of trading is actually tomorrow, is it?

01:07 - Yeah, last day of trading tomorrow.

01:09 Yeah, once the beer's gone, the beer's gone.

01:11 And that's it, and from there on in, who knows?

01:14 - Okay, well, I'm sure the readers of the news

01:17 are wishing you the very best for whatever happens

01:19 for you both in the future.

01:21 - Thank you.

01:22 - Thank you for speaking to the news.

01:23 - No problem, thank you very much, bye.

01:24 - Bye.