I could cry over the closure of the Blue Boar and probably will when it closes this weekend. This is a pub that is great for locals and visitors alike. Good beer. Good food. Good company. It is busy throughout the year. It is a traditional pub with a modern approach. Over the last decade, leaseholder Adam Tutt and manager Emily Hardman have built a great community asset and a destination for visitors to Ludlow. It has a meeting room in regular use for community and arts events and smaller meetings are held in the bar throughout the week.
Yesterday, Punch Taverns responded after I complained about the insanity of this closure to the pub trade newspaper, the Morning Advertiser. For copyright reasons, you will need to read that response here. I summarise the essential points below.
The Blue Boar has had a troubled past. It was causing such problems in 2014, it was closed after the police intervened. Punch Taverns did not contest the closure and admitted to its failings. Residents were adamant that they wanted the pub to reopen and become a great local again. That happened when Adam and Emily took over running the pub.
They built a good team and changed the pub from a place to avoid to a go-to destination. The Blue Boar now has a unique style that will never be replaced.
Recently Punch Taverns decided to end the lease and put new managers in (see statement from Punch). It seems to think it can do better than the current management. Punches’ incomprehensible decision means that one of the most popular venues in Ludlow will close at peak season. That is a crazy decision that will lead to a lack of eating and drinking venues in Ludlow during its peak season for visitors. More than 1,000 residents and visitors to Ludlow signed a petition against the move but Punch, an organisation driven by its bottom line not by community values, is not listening.
We don’t know how long the Blue Boar will be closed for. I hope it will reopen very quickly and any work to refurbish the interior is delayed until after September. The new managers will be made welcome in Ludlow. Ludlow is that sort of town. But the Blue Boar will never be the same again.
To add to the difficulties of the town, the George closed on 21 June after its owners, Oakham Inns Ltd, went into administration. Although fourteen of Oakham’s pubs were purchased by Upham Inns and ten by The Restaurant Group, the George remains unsold.
It is true to say the George never found the sweet spot for Ludlow trade. Its prices were on the expensive side. It has had a number of managers since it opened on 24 August 2023. I sure that with a more focused management it could succeed. Now we must wait to see if another pubco or an entrepreneur will take it on. It will be a great loss if it doesn’t reopen. There has been a pub on the site since 1790, except for a few years when Pizza Express occupied the building.
The closure of the George and Blue Boar has led to the loss of around 60 jobs, some temporary for the summer and Christmas seasons, but many permanent.
With the popular Castle Lodge Buttery closed after a fire, there will be a lack of eateries in the core town centre this summer. This is a triple whammy for our town and it can only make Ludlow a less attractive place to visit.
Pubcos should recognise how important pubs are to small market towns. They increase footfall and help build the reputation of a town as an enjoyable place to visit. Closed pubs make high streets look tired and unattractive. Ludlow needs these pubs. It needs them all year round not just in the peak season
We have three unexpected closures at peak season Ludlow. That’s seriously bad news in a small town like this. Ludlow will recover. It always does. But we could do without unnecessary blows like the closure of the Blue Boar and closure by external events like the George.
Summary of Punch Taverns statement to the Morning Advertiser
- The lease agreement with current operators Adam Tutt and Emily Hardman is ending, so Punch will temporarily close the pub in August for refurbishment.
- £275,000 investment is being made into the venue to support its future operation.
- After refurbishment, the Blue Boar will reopen under Punch’s management partnerships arm, transitioning from a lease to a partnered management model.
- Punch expressed deep gratitude to Adam and Emily for their decade of outstanding service and dedication to the pub.
- The aim is to ensure the Blue Boar remains at the heart of the Ludlow community, thriving under its new operational model.
The Blue Boar has been such a wonderful place to eat, drink and meet friends. Always welcoming. Really hope that Punch don’t destroy it as a special community watering hole at the heart of Ludlow where as the George has perhaps shown, glitzy city pubs, lovely as the George was, are perhaps not what locals and visitors want in a town which thrives on history?
We are not planning to use the B.B. when it re opens. We love it the way it is and so far there is nowhere else to get anywhere near it. I strongly suspect, when it re opens it will not resemmble it’s present state. So why should we bother going. Yes there are places which may get near on some individual criteria, but nowhere has it all. It will be interesting to monitor it’s future.
Thanks for fighting our corner Andy. In case readers do not know PUNCH is owned by the Fortress Investment Group with an HQ based in New York and as you say it is driven by financial performance for its backers so our aspirations for a pub which continues to focus on the community is unlikely.