12/09/2026
THE “BEST FAMILY RUN BUSINESS” — APPARENTLY… 🙈🤣
So, as we come towards our final day at the Prince Albert, I feel like it’s time to talk about our experience.
Not because we want sympathy.
Not because we think we got everything right.
And certainly not because we expect anything to change.
But because people should know what it can actually be like on the other side of the bar.
When we took on the Prince Albert, it was, quite honestly, an unloved mess.
Yes, Shepherd Neame allowed us to spend our own money doing it up. 🤣
They did the cellar equipment and revamped the bar top, which was desperately needed. They gave us a kitchen … well they gave us hot lamp counter, metal sides, grease trap that was unfit & a dishwasher that didn’t even last 6 months and new flooring in the kitchen that had to get replaced a year later because it wasn’t done properly in the first place … 🙄
But the basics?
No baby changing.
No hand dryers.
Very little furniture.
No Fridges / freezers
No Storage
No Kitchen plates cutlery etc.
Sooooo plenty of things that we had to sort ourselves.
We invested. We worked. We built it back up.
Then COVID happened.
And I will give credit where it’s due — they didn’t charge us rent during COVID.
That is genuinely the one thing, whenever we speak to other tenants, that everyone seems to agree was a positive. 🙈🤣
We eventually opened and it was running well, it was REALLY good.
The first three years were bloody brilliant.
We had a great team, a brilliant bunch of regulars, sales were good and the Albert had a real buzz about it.
We were proud of what we’d created.
We weren’t sitting there thinking Shepherd Neame were the problem.
We were busy running a successful pub, building a community and enjoying every bloody minute of it.
Shepherd Neame left us alone completely…
Then the world changed. 3 years in …
Our experience of the support that was supposed to come from our business managers has been very different from what we expected.
We were told to use a broker for our energy — Nationwide Energy being the one recommended to us.
The war in Ukraine happened and energy prices went absolutely mental.
We were encouraged into a contract at a time when we already knew it was going to be incredibly difficult for us to afford.
We were told prices were going to get worse.
We were told the Government would help.
The Government did… for about three months. 🙄
Then that stopped. We were f**ked to put it bluntly.
We asked for help.
Nationwide basically said it wasn’t their problem.
E.ON wouldn’t deal with us because we’d gone through a broker.
And Shepherd Neame’s position was essentially that there wasn’t anything they could do.
Our advice from our business managers?
Turn the cellar cooling off and use candles.
Because obviously warm b**r and a candlelit pub was the next big hospitality trend. 🤦🏻♀️🤣
Eventually, we managed to negotiate directly with E.ON ourselves and got onto something that, whilst not good, was at least manageable, for a very loooong time.
Hard lesson learned - never sign anything unless 100% sure!
Then came the rent increases.
We said we were struggling.
We said no.
The answer?
A £30-a-week saving.
And when we challenged that, the message was essentially take it or leave it.
So naturally we took it.
Then our sales started dropping.
Our buying dropped accordingly.
Rather than someone asking:
“What’s happening? How can we help?”
we were accused of buying outside our arrangement.
Except we have flow meters.
You can literally see what we’re selling.
Sales had dropped across the board.
It wasn’t us buying out.
It was people spending less.
And that’s where I think the biggest issue lies.
The price of Shepherd Neame products.
We understand the current climate.
We understand that everyone’s bills have gone up.
We understand people have less disposable income.
But when someone can spend nearly £20 on three pints in one pub, and less than £10 somewhere else just down the road, you can’t ignore the impact that has.
People still want to go out.
They just have to think a lot harder about where they spend their money.
Our food was our point of difference.
The BBQ, the smokehouse, the sharing boards — that was something we were incredibly proud of.
But the last six months have been brutal.
Phil and Alex have worked incredibly hard trying to get on top of a business where you simply don’t know who’s going to walk through the door.
We’ve made mistakes.
Of course we have.
We’ve employed the wrong people.
We’ve made decisions that, looking back, we would do differently.
We took on another pub because we genuinely believed it would give us the breathing space to give the Albert the attention it needed.
It bought us about three months.
What it actually showed us was that the Albert needed a fresh start — and unfortunately, we didn’t have the money left to give it one.
And that’s the bit that hurts.
The rent Shepherd Neame are offering the next person for the Prince Albert is £100 LESS per week than what we are currently paying.
Let that sink in.
It’s also £70 LESS per week than the rent we were offered when we were asking for help and telling them we were struggling.
So naturally, we asked:
“Can our rent now reflect the price you’re offering the next tenant?”
We didn’t even get a written response.
We were simply met by our business manager and told:
No.
That’s it.
No explanation.
No discussion.
No attempt to find a way forward.
Just no.
The government also hasn’t helped: the tax, the business rates, the national insurance increases, card rates, bank rates, the minimum wage increases - which should happen but the economy is falling short so hits hospitality harder then anywhere else.
Everyone can see the prices creep up but still buy their favourites in the supermarket - the expendable income becomes less which then hits us …
When we sat down with our business guy from Sheps over 8/9 months ago when we showed him our renovations on the second floor of the Albert … Discussion turnt to talk about the sales, the climate and the struggles we were having, the answer we were given was essentially:
“The price has always been like it”
To then 3 months ago to have a final conversation about it all to be met with …
“Just Hand in your notice.”
No help or support offered at any point…
Anyone that knows us, will know Zoe is very much full on & straight to the point and Phil is more diplomatic - the last 8 months, Phil has been key contact because Zoë well, she isn’t shy of showing her feelings and is the one writing this 🤣
We know other pubs have been struggling and we are not silly - shepherd Neame is a business … but when I can go to an outside supplier and buy an actual shepherd Neame product for £80 cheaper a barrel it does really confuse me about their business model for tenants …
But that’s their business … 🤣
Maybe we just didn’t fit … 🤣
We do know we had been waiting for things to be fixed for a few months but handed in our notice & miraculously they were all of a sudden fixed 🙄🤣
So After 6½ years.
Six and a half years of memories.
Friends who became family.
People who walked through that door as customers and left as mates.
Birthdays.
Karaoke.
BBQs.
Christmases.
Arguments. 🤣
Laughs.
Tears.
And a ridiculous amount of drinks.
Would I change everything?
Probably not.
Because the lessons the Prince Albert has taught us will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Would I do some things differently?
Absolutely.
Will I always wonder “what if?”
Probably.
But I’m also very much a:
F**K IT. IT’S DONE NOW. 🤣
kind of person.
So here’s to one final night at the Prince Albert.
And here’s to whoever takes it on next.
Because I genuinely hope someone does.
If you don’t use it, you lose it.
And we have already watched too many pubs disappear.
Look at the Crayford Arms.
Another pub gone.
Another building that was once full of people, memories and community.
And this is the bit I really hope Shepherd Neame take away from all of this.
A pub isn’t just a building.
It’s not just a rent payment.
It’s not just barrels moved, sales figures and GP percentages.
There are families behind these businesses - which is what they hope for so you no need to make a liveable wage…
People putting their savings, time, health and entire lives into them.
We are not just tenants.
We’re the people trying to keep these places alive.
So perhaps it’s time to stop looking at pubs purely as buildings and income streams and start looking at the people inside them.
Shepherd Neame see buildings and income.
We see families, friendships, memories and communities.
And that’s the difference.
So, Shepherd Neame…
Peace out. ✌🏻
Thanks for the memories.
Thanks for the lessons.
And thank you for making us realise that whatever comes next, we’ll be doing it our way.
❤️
Zoë & Phil
