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.