Coronavirus: Peterborough pub company boss devastated - but government had no option but to close them

Carly Peachey founded Venture Pubs with husband Darren and her late mum Therese Gallacher seven years ago and now lease 16 pubs -including The Dragon in Werrington, Lime Tree in Paston and Dragonfly in Orton Malborne.

She said: “We were very shocked to get the news (on friday) that we must stop trading as soon as reasonably possible. We obviously knew the closure was looming but we were hoping we could get the weekend to use as much stock as possible.

“Being a pub business with 16 pubs it was obviously devastating news for us and all the managers that run our pubs for us. We had been communicating all week and waited anxiously each evening for the next steps. The team we work with has been great, stayed positive throughout the week and have done everything they can to keep the pubs ticking over and reducing costs wherever possible, not forgetting keeping themselves and their staff safe along with all the customers by upping their cleaning regime and educating everyone how to cooperate with social distancing and safety procedures.

“We completely understand the govt decision to close all hospitality businesses – to ask people not to visit these places while they remain open was never going to work. Too many people love the community hub and won’t stay out of the pub if they have an option. There is no doubt it would of been a difficult decision for the govt but they needed to take these drastic measures in the interest of wellbeing of society.

“For us as a business it is of course a worrying time. The government’s injection of cash for businesses seems like a positive move but it is also a very grey area, especially for multiple operators. The information that has been given to businesses is not entirely clear, and discussions between operators and breweries within the pub industry has thrown up many different scenarios. “

Carly said the company had been planning for such and eventuality and was doing all it could to protect those working in its pubs.

She said: “Venture Pubs as a business has implemented every possible action to reduce costs to keep afloat, and more importantly, keep a roof over the heads of our managers and their families. We now wait for the financial packages to emerge and then we will review our position and take any actions that are needed.

“We fully support the removal of business rates for 12 months for all businesses and believe that the government have done their very best to try and support businesses across the country. We hope that the grants available are given to each individual pub and not just the business. Venture has multiple sites and each one of those are run as a separate entity to the others.

“Venture Pub Company have been planning for this day for weeks. Once we heard of the spread of the virus we knew that things would change rapidly. We put a hold on many of our bills and recouped credits where we could. Venture pub company is a very strong company and is in a position to ride this out for the foreseeable future.

“Once businesses are allowed to trade again and we have the freedom of movement, we hope that people will come out and support their local pubs as it has shown through this crisis that these still remain the hub of the community and that they are an integral part of society.”