29/11/2025
Dear Supporters of The George,
I am writing this note to update you regarding the future for The George at Egerton.
You will probably be aware that pubs are closing in the UK at an accelerated rate which is a by-product of spiralling costs and reducing visitation. The latest budget has done nothing to provide help for the hospitality sector as promised - business rates are due to rise further because of the double impact of the existing relief for hospitality ending plus general rises. Add in another increase in the minimum wage and the viability of a pub will be harder than ever.
All of the pubs in the village in which I live have closed - being either permanently converted for alternative use or are closed waiting new operators, which given what I have just said is looking less likely.
In contrast I operate a thriving cafe pub at North Weald Airfield in Essex but that has an interesting backdrop that encourages volumes all people to visit. The previous owner of The George had and continues to have a successful operation at Sissinghurst which is on a busy main road with lots of through traffic.
The particular challenge with Egerton is that there isn’t much in the way of passing trade and the volatility in sales has made it impossible for the pub to be financially viable. I have seen all the comments suggesting silver bullet solutions but my experience suggests that none of them would overcome the basic challenges of spiralling costs and reducing footfall to ensure sustainability.
The pub costs circa £50k a year to be in a ready state to open (business rates, insurance, standing charges, licences, alarm maintenance, winter heating, basic repairs and maintenance etc) and that is before any cost of capital or trading costs such as wages, the cost of stock and power.
I would love to see the pub reopened and be the center of the village but it has to be on a sustainable basis. I have looked at the various options and the one that is most likely to succeed is where the pub operates as a members pub with regular subscriptions. However this will only work if there is enough support……
There would need to be a minimum number of members to cover the fixed overheads which in simple terms would be something like 100 members paying £10 a week each. There could be family membership rates and other preferential rates for certain groups such as pensioners but the sums have to add up.
There are many benefits of a members pub one of which would be that you know who is allowed in and therefore should be a safe space. Drinks prices would be lower than alternate venues and the facility and rooms would be available for hire by members at lower rates than elsewhere.
In order to get your feedback I have set aside a number of evening dates to meet with residents who live within say a 6 mile radius to discuss this approach before either refining the concept or concluding that there isn’t enough support for it.
I will also use these meetings as an opportunity to update you on the building work on the pub.
The dates will be at 19.00 on the following days in December:
Sunday 14th
Monday 15th
If you are interested please request an invitation to attend by email.
Please email me at [email protected] stating in the email heading, your name, the date you would like to attend and where you live.
I encourage you to add some additional thoughts and comments within the body of your email as there are likely to be some good ideas and some issues for me to think harder about. Constructive challenge is welcome.
So as an example your email header should look something like:
“ Daisy Smith, 15th December, Lenham”
The meetings will be by invitation and be a maximum of 25 people at each session to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to share their views and engage in the dialogue.
My best,
Keith
