Spalding Pub Landlord Patrick Hughes Quits Over Costs And Habits

Lincolnshire pub landlord Patrick Hughes has quit his tenancy at The Royal Mail Cart in Spalding, citing rising utility and wage prices, changing customer habits, and major roadworks alongside cheap supermarket alcohol and home television viewing.

Lincolnshire has lost 27% of its pubs and bars since 2009, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics cited in reporting by AOL. That decline represents a drop from 710 establishments down to 515 across the county. In South Holland, which includes Spalding, the closure rate reaches nearly double the national average at 53%, falling from 75 venues to 35, well above England’s overall average of 19%.

Patrick Hughes Leaves The Royal Mail Cart

Patrick Hughes took over tenancy of The Royal Mail Cart in Spalding in August 2025, hoping to draw patrons through live music nights and a community atmosphere. Just over a year later, the 66-year-old former landlord packed his boxes after ending his agreement with the pub’s owner, Stonegate Group.

I thought there was a gap in the market but there was no market for the gap.

Patrick Hughes, former pub landlord

Hughes told BBC Politics North that his departure stemmed from a combination of financial pressures and shifting consumer routines. He pointed to rising utility and wage prices alongside major roadworks directly outside the pub that started in the summer. To sustain a venue like The Royal Mail Cart, he noted, a weekly turnover of £12,000 is necessary. While some weeks reached around £8,000, revenue dropped sharply once the road construction began.

These days people are used to staying at home, watching TV, having cheap drink from the supermarket or off licence and getting food deliveries.

Patrick Hughes, former pub landlord

Supermarket Pricing and Government Policy Debates

Hughes argued that government action is needed to address the retail pricing of alcohol.

The government needs to look at the low cost of alcohol in supermarkets primarily. Certainly the taxation in supermarkets needs to be looked at to bring about some kind of equilibrium.

Patrick Hughes, former pub landlord

While duty paid on draught alcohol in pubs and bars sits up to 11 pence cheaper than equivalent drinks sold in supermarkets, overall business running costs still make supermarket alcohol cheaper for consumers at home.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% business rates reduction for qualifying pubs, social clubs, and live music venues in England, scheduled to take effect in April 2027. An HM Treasury spokesperson noted that the measure saves thousands of local establishments over £1,000 annually. Meanwhile, Emma McClarkin OBE, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, called for that discount to be made permanent in the Budget alongside a freeze in beer duty and an expansion of the draft discount.

We’re set to lose one pub a day by the end of the year and 295 have closed already. When a pub does close, it’s not just the front door that’s closing, it’s the heritage, the culture, the economic contribution to society and the social value.

Emma McClarkin OBE, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association

Community Bid to Save The Ship Inn in Surfleet Seas End

Local residents near Spalding are organizing to rescue another shuttered venue, The Ship Inn, situated by the River Welland in the hamlet of Surfleet Seas End. Mark Newlands, who lives nearby, described how the location formerly featured tables and chairs where patrons ate and drank by the riverside before the pub closed last year.

Residents formed a group called The Shipmates to raise £600,000 to purchase and operate the property. The group secured the pub’s listing as an Asset of Community Value under the Localism Act 2011, granting them the statutory right to bid for the building if it comes up for sale.

People have become fed up of the Covid way of living and they want to see their pub open. The indications from smaller and larger investors is that it’s worth doing and we’ve proven to our own satisfaction that it is a viable business.

Mark Newlands, local resident and community organizer