It’s sadly a tale as old as the hills. A brewery or pubco wish to increase cash flow or profit margins and sell off a load of pubs in their estate (usually in heavily working class residential areas or places with low yield). The landlord, in this case who has had the pub for over 35 years, can’t afford the freehold and has to give up their home and livelihood.

Phase 2 is a property developer buys the pub. The pub, which very often is profitable and a quality traditional boozer, has loyal punters who complain and lobby their local council. These community and cultural retainers then secure an ACV (Asset of Community Value) and the pub is “saved”.

However, not so. The property developer is then forced to sell or lease the building (ground floor at least) as a trading pub. They slap a totally ridiculous annual rent of two or three times market rate and claims nobody wants to take it on (which they don’t as it won’t be possible to make a coin) and then declares the pub is impossible to maintain as a going concern. The developer then submits planning to demolish or convert with 10 flats in its place. The local authority then decline the application due to local outage. However, the planning inspectorate overturns on appeal. Or, if declined, the property is left rotting - sometimes for years - until eventually permission is granted.

Finally the pub is levelled and flats are built. And that, boys and girls, is how, for 30 pieces of silver, hundreds of years of history, culture, community and family tradition are violated and erased in the blink of an eye.

How is this progress?