The Red Lion Public House - News

Surely if this place was actually viable as a business it would have been running smoothly for years now, instead of basically festering while sporadically opening then closing again over the last decade? I get people on here want it as a matchday venue but how many would go there otherwise?

No doubt there are reasons the club aren't interested. It's right opposite the away turnstiles so is a textbook flashpoint and they probably got bored of the constant complaints from the police during the last stint when it was open. Even if they didn't own it then it's still reputationally not great if any trouble is always linked to matchdays and the proximity to the football ground.

 

I have never been to the Red lion in a match day, preferring the town centre or walking home to my local. so I could only see it working as a pub if it got Used by local residents. To do that it needs plenty spent on it and a decent marketing campaign; beyond the budget of a tenant. I like the buildings so I hope they would remain a part of the street scene. I do think that the club is quite rightly focused on what it can do well, sub contracting out what it doesn't to specialists. The club bought the site to redevelop it into offices, never had any intention to operate it as a community pub. The clubs continuing success will see other local businesses get some benefit. That whole parade between occupation road and the pedestrianised bit of Vicarage Road is ripe for redevelopment. With the garage, print works and glass company. Can see that becoming shops with flats in the next few years.

 

Latest update is that the council HAVE agreed to register the pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), they have written to the current owner and he has the right of appeal. ACVs normally apply to the whole site, not just the actual building - but until the actual notification is received we should not get ahead of ourselves. The local community have up to six months to build a business case and make an official offer for the property - even then the owner does not have to accept the community bid, however with his hands now tied - unless somebody else wanted to turn it into a successful pub and made the owner a better offer - I think they'd be mad to turn it down.

This is very good news but this is just the end of the beginning, there is a lot more work to do over the next six months.... All help would be appreciated - visit the Red Lion FB page.

Cheers

 

And after 6 months can he just refuse all offers from 'the community' and revert to knocking it down for flats?

 

It's a ****hole (always has been) and an eyesore now, will be glad when it's finally gone.

 

No the ACV remains in place for five years - it can then be renewed if necessary. Even if the community bid were rejected, he would have to go through full planning application to seek approval before any work could commence - the fact that the council have registered the pub as an ACV I doubt their planners would approve plans for anything other than a pub. Nothing is 100% though, so the momentum needs to be kept going on this one.

 

Waste of time, it will never be a sustainable business 7 days a week as a pub.

I get the links to the club, Bensons, nice old building - but its time to move on.

 

The bit that worries me is the provision in the legislation for the owner to be paid compensation from the local authority if he can demonstrate the value of his asset has been damaged as a result of being listed as an ACV. So the taxpayer may well end up having to pay him a tidy sum and then he'll just run it into the ground as a derelict building. Good luck though.

 

How long until the mysterious fire?

 

Fool. He meant this guy

 

Seeing as I'm goign fro a curry tonight, I'd say about 20 hours.

 

A weatherspoons special?

 

1 large flaming dragon please barkeep.

 

Complete tosh. When the club bought it they beat both Green King and Amber Inns to it. Any half decent landlord could make money in there.

For the last 15 years its been run by planks.

 

Back on the market. Property particulars hit my desk again yesterday, quoting rent £30k per annum, open to offers on the freehold. Possibly an attempt at establishing compensation level for ACV impact claim although I am not certain how that works. Previous quoted price was £1.1m if my memory serves me correctly.

 

Chunky, do you have any idea what other pubs in the area are on the market for, if there are any?

 

Gut it and turn it into something useful like a lavatory or a macdonalds

 

When it re opened recently it was terrible. They tried too hard with some things, the music in there was terrible, took an age to get served and was generally crap.

Give it to a chain of some sort and they'll run it properly, though I can't imagine anyone touching it.

It'll take someone willing not to make money to make it last as a pub. Would have worked well as a club shop/supporters club, bloody Bassini.

 

I am not aware of any off the top of my head but often these get transacted without any outward signs. Only my view but the local boozer is dying as the younger generation head towards the bar areas and leisure destinations in towns rather than the local. Watford is a prime example of that. To succeed the property has to offer more.

With only 19 home games the match day angle for a pub is limited because even at £30k rent, add the rates probably £15k, and already you are looking at having to generate £1k a week profit on whatever activity is undertaken and that is before spending any money on stock, staff, the building repairs and maintenance etc etc.

The successful bars are premium pricing outlets - eg cocktails and kitchen, which is unlikely to succeed in that location.

I have no real answer apart from thinking that it has to be multi use. The football stadium itself is in land use terms not economic, it is supported financially by the club and the fans indirectly via The Murdoch Shilling and Sky. There may be some logic therefore in having the pub tacked on to the stadium in some way - club shop, club museum, etc. I did advocate a micro brewery I think in an earlier post but that was perhaps wishful thinking although here is a certain synergy with clubs connections and history.

 

I reached the same conclusion, it would need club affiliation. An official Supporters club HQ with relics if not an actual Museum and of course a bar area with a limited lunch menu and small kitchen. Match days it would have to capitalise on bulk fans but I'm sure revenues would be adequate to cover rents, rates and wages. I always wanted a direct link via a tunnel but (and the same 'but' for the pub really) ....

..... as ridiculous as it may sound we are actually on the verge of outgrowing the stadium, a little success and we will be vastly oversubscribed and our owner really is not holding back. It may not be worth building a new stadium just yet but for anyone buying the pub that kind of assurance simply isn't good enough, a move is likely at some point and with it all the major trade.

 

I understand where you and Chunky are coming from but I think you have to think further afield than just the football club. Yes, on home matches (circa 22 per season), the pub would need to accommodate fans but that then leaves 343 days of the year to operate as a successful pub - the only way to do this is to make it something for the community, somewhere that all areas of the community are able to relate to. I appreciate you are likely to lose the younger elements to the town centre clubs and bars, but it must be worth a decent try, especially if it is bought by the community and run as a cooperative. There are more and more of these popping up all over the country, let's hope the Red Lion is one of them in the future.

 

The community angle is significant aspect, there are a number of groups looking for premises without the financial clout to support their causes, the need for patronage is therefore clear (the club?) and those uses can add use time to a suitable building but not add any financial contribution. A wider patronage (by that I mean other companies adding their financial support) is probably required not only to acquire and convert but to keep paying to keep the community asset running.
Assuming the club stay in the location, ironically it is a great opportunity, but it needs their input in my view, and as importantly, the input of others as partners. Maybe the recnt designation as ACV will push it in this direction.

 

A Licence application

Has gone up on the Red. There is hope.arty1::bass:

 

I used yo drink every match day from 11.00. Most agreeable.

 

Its going to be a shop aint it? Or have I been told wrong..

 

read the picture above...