Pub closes due to rising operational costs

The landlady of a pub said she has closed the business following rises to operational costs and the sale of the pub's premises.

The Spread Eagle on Wellingborough Road, Northampton, ceased trading on Monday.

Maria Carr, the pub's landlady for the past five years, said "it was the right opportunity to leave" considering the "pending increases that are coming in April" following tax changes made in the Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

A Treasury spokesperson told the BBC that "pubs feature at the heart of communities across the country".

"I feel incredibly sad about closing, but it ultimately was the decision that we had to make," Ms Carr said.

She added the pub building was sold last year and her lease would have allowed her to stay open until October 2025.

The 47-year-old added that the announcements Reeves made in the Budget in September, such as increases to minimum wages and business rates and a rise in employers National Insurance contributions, were "really scary" for the pub trade.

Reeves said the pay boost marked a "significant step" towards achieving Labour's promise of a "genuine living wage" for workers.

Ms Carr said: "Pubs are struggling already; we were still a very busy pub, but it wasn't enough to cover overheads.

"We've got breweries putting prices up; increases are huge, and they continue to happen whilst we've got a shrinking customer base."

The Treasury spokesperson said: "We're standing behind [pubs] by cutting 1p off alcohol duty on draught pints from February, either fully protecting them or providing 40% relief from business rates from April and ensuring smaller pubs either see a cut or no change in their National Insurance bills from April by more than doubling Employment Allowance."

Despite making the decision to shut, Ms Carr said the Spread Eagle team "accomplished so much" in five years.

"We run an amazing community pub," she said.

"In my first year we implemented a female safety initiative that was rolled out across 700 other pubs in the UK by our brewery.

"We also worked very hard at getting all the pubs and clubs talking to one another and we had this motto 'if you're banned from one pub, you're banned from all' which helped reduce incidents."

Ms Carr said she was "taking a break" from the pub trade for now but would be leaving with "great memories".

She added: "The pub community in Northampton is so amazing and there are so many people that support the pubs, but the pubs need a bit more support."

Wells & Co, the pub's operator, has been contacted for comment.

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