05/05/2026
POST NUMBER 2 – OF A SERIES
All efforts to encourage Phil Evans Fez, Margate to meet for a chat having been ignored;........
This is the second post of a series — hence “Post 2”. If you haven’t read “Post 1”, you will be at a disadvantage. https://www.facebook.com/ocpmargate
I am often asked about my background, so I have already addressed that openly. I have no secrets. What I do have is a wealth of experience that some do not. “Post 1” was intended to be cautionary and deliberately unspecific.
What follows now is very different;
We will now explain the real real events which have defamed the characters of a number of local people including myself. — on our own doorstep.
This involves allegations of fraud made against me by my bank, calling into question my personal honesty and integrity, arising from the day-to-day business practices of others. That crosses a line which cannot simply be ignored.
It is important to note that I do not share what is merely believed, based on consensus, or repeated from others, without verifiable evidence. Reaching that point can take time, which is why there has been a delay in setting this out.
Preamble;
If you are reading this as one of our followers — welcome back. You already know that what we put out is different, and that everything is based on verifiable, provable information, not gossip. (Perhaps that is why we have well over 2,000 followers despite not yet being open — and without relying on the kind of social media that thrives on speculation. If that’s what you’re looking for, this probably isn’t for you.)
If you are reading this via another site where it has been shared;
A brief response to a couple of comments made elsewhere on social media that have been brought to my attention:
MONEY
[To humour a couple of troubled, uneducated souls (“buffoons” frankly);
No — I have not “run out of money”, which is why our project is taking time.
And, now you are aware of my private aircraft and pilot’s licence, I am also not, as has been suggested, “a drug smuggler”.
In fact, I have recently purchased another property in Kingsgate for around half a million, as a second home, without a mortgage. I have been enjoying my hobbies and focusing on other investments — but thank you for your concern. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are doing just fine.
The truth is much simpler; I have done reasonably well financially because I work hard and have made, in my view, some sound decisions over the years. That allows me to choose when to open my own businesses — not because I have to, but because I decide to.
I appreciate not everyone will understand that, but criticising those decisions is ultimately pointless when my wife and I are happy and content.
Again, thank you for your thoughts. Everyone is entitled to them.]
Now, back to the real world;
This post is also cautionary — but this time, specific.
This week I am addressing matters that have affected my wife and I, our efforts, and our good name — in our defence and out of respect for those who have supported us.
What follows cuts through the total crap from some people’s storytelling — people who, in my view, repeatedly misrepresent things to excuse their own behaviour and present themselves as respectable.
When a bar operator bars customers, it naturally suggests wrongdoing. Think again. Sometimes the opposite is true — customers may have uncovered something uncomfortable.
The subjects I will be addressing are as follows;
The first picture is Phil Evens (former College ceramic teacher).
The second; Colin Barber (formerly a second-hand clothes shop proprietor in Northdown Road, Margate. Thereafter, former partner to the owner of Margate’s “Shell Grotto”).
The third; Paul, (real name; Mohinder Bir Singh Tung (previously a restaurant employee in Northdown Road, Margate).
There are also relevant new staff members; Rebbeca Grace and
a young lady called “Iso”.
These individuals will feature prominently within what follows;
10–11 years ago, Phil opened “Fez” in Margate High Street (almost opposite “The Old Cottage Pub”). Over those years he had our full support — tools, equipment, unrestricted access to our properties, trust, friendship — not just from Dennise and I, but from many others locally. Fez became a well-loved, quirky bar. It worked because of that local support.
That trust has been seriously undermined by the group of owners and new staff, all keenly pointing at each other to deflect criticism, apparently retaining their own secrets from each other and making dishonest statements. This behaviour undermining expected customer relaxation and freedom to chat. But what you may ask are the real reasons and cause?
Not everyone is gullible and easily led. People who think outside the box are rarely easy targets.
When I am silent for a while whilst others lose their minds within the gossip, there is always a reason. I don’t engage in lies, gossip or hearsay. There is no point in it.
I prefer to listen, watch and learn — good or bad. Sadly, most on social media find that impossible to do. So the rot spreads.
When they are eventually exposed, some individuals are so aggrieved that they hide behind anonymous profiles — setting one up purely to post abuse and disappear again, sometimes just to write “he’s a C**t”.
It was my turn recently. In my case, naming me and my family name, directly posting a picture of The Old Cottage building with their “C**t” comment.
(My thanks to the admin at “Thanet Chat” who removed it within minutes after it was flagged.)
The source is not the mystery the abuser believes it to be. Behaviour like that gives itself away.
Motive first. Then language. In this case, the repeated use of “C**t”, which anyone familiar with the individual concerned will recognise.
After that, it becomes a matter of following the trail — patterns, usage, and available identifying data.
Those who know me personally know I had the answer within hours. Sometimes it’s worth pursuing. Sometimes it isn’t.
More seriously, “Colin Barber” is the same individual who, in front of me and several personal friends, physically attacked a well-known local man we all respected for his pleasant, harmless character and sense of humour — known as “Scotty”.
A kind and likeable soul who never hurt anyone.
He was frequently the subject of Colin’s public derision and humiliation, including being often referred to in public as “he’s a C**t”. The behaviour was persistent.
On the occasion I witnessed, without any warning or obvious cause to those present, Colin violently placed him in a headlock and forcibly dragged him by his head, under his arm, to the door and out into the street.
The conduct was shocking and shameful to those who witnessed it and raised serious questions about the character of Colin Barber, and some may question his suitability to work in a licenced trade. As well as Phil Evans decision to employ him. That of course is his business, but the effect has been to the detriment of the customers. That abuse and neglect of management is what I will address in the hope it serves as a warning to others.
[Scotty died very recently (no suggestion is made that Colin Barber’s treatment of him is connected in any way).
Our thoughts are with Scotty’s family and friends. Rest in peace — you will always be the bigger man, Scotty.]
Altogether, very disappointing behaviour — and unacceptable to any reasonable person.
Phil Evens has continued to avoid discussion offered from his loyal customers observations.
Presumably, he considers it not to be in his personal interests to engage with those who have raised these genuine concerns and asked to speak with him in his own interests as well as theirs. That sadly is very unwise.
But so be it.
If you’re interested in the truth behind the façade of some of the characters we have had to deal with at the Cottage since we arrived in 2009, read on. If not, you are in the wrong place.
I don’t tolerate what I consider to be deception, dishonesty and defamatory remarks from people who don’t tell the truth.
The public will not be mislead by such people, without a truthful response.
So here, you have the opportunity to read what really goes on yourselves — or ignore it. This is only offered, to understand the situation as we have experienced it. What has been clearly demonstrated to me, is how not to manage any bar.
First subject — because I am asked about it daily across Margate:
No — I, and a large group of local friends, have not been barred from the bar (“Fez”) in Margate High Street opposite “The Old Cottage Pub”. Quite the opposite; we were accused of boycotting it.
But that isn’t strictly true either. That is what Phil Evans believes, based on what he was told by a member of staff who, I understand, was uncomfortable about the situation they had created.
Briefly; the group — including myself — decided we were no longer prepared to be made to feel uncomfortable by staff dictating what subjects customers are allowed to discuss between themselves.
They hover nearby, pretending to clean glasses, clearly trying to listen.
They interrupt and object to your own conversation — whether it’s the day’s politics on TV or, ironically, the staff’s own behaviour — and you find yourself challenged and on the receiving end of retaliatory abuse from the current staff in Fez and “Henry’s”.
Frankly, after my experience recently, I am not surprised people chose to leave and go elsewhere. I followed shortly afterwards.
So let’s be clear — that is not boycotting a bar. That is reacting to bad manners and disrespect.
We simply left to continue our normal conversations elsewhere, without repeated interruption and self-imposed staff rules from untrained new staff, without any apparent management intervention.
Quite frankly, any other bar in Margate had become a relief to meet up. We have enjoyed going elsewhere ever since.
Which raises the obvious question — what are these “don’t discuss that” and “do as you are told” rules for?
What is there to hide?
Recap;
I was served at Henry’s by the same Colin Barber as previously mentioned.
Days later, my bank accused me of fraud relating to transactions in Chatham. Neither my wife nor I made them. The card had not left our possession.
The bank’s position was that the card had been physically used and it had to be me.
I investigated thoroughly.
What I established was that the POS machine used was not linked to the business I believed I was paying.
Same bar. Different machine.
So while my bank was questioning my integrity, I discovered the payment had not gone where I reasonably believed it should.
That is not a minor issue.
From my point of view, that raises serious questions about how money was being handled. Others can draw their own conclusions.
Colin Barber and his behaviour led to my necessary further enquiries when dealing with the alleged fraud investigation.
What I have discovered since is the most shocking example of repetitive customer abuse I could possibly have imagined.
For all the above reasons it is with great regret that The Old Cottage Pub has no alternative but to permanently disassociate ourselves from the above mentioned businesses indefinately.
The final proverbial straw will be disclosed in Post 3
Next weekend.
In the meantime,
I hope you all had a great bank holiday weekend.
Best wishes
David
