"We've been crunched from every angle" Berkhamsted pub announces closure due to ‘Covid, the impact of Brexit and the rising cost of living’
All reservations and bookings were cancelled yesterday (January 9)
One of Berkhamsted's oldest pubs has announced that it has permanently closed after dealing with the ‘impact of Covid, the impact of Brexit and the rising cost of living’.
The Lamb, on Berkhamsted’s High Street, reopened in 2019 after being closed for 15 months for a £380,000 refurbishment.
Now, the pub has announced that it will close for good. A Facebook post said: “With a heavy heart, we are sad to announce that we will not be reopening The Lamb’s doors again. With the compound impact of Covid, Brexit and the rising cost of living, we can no longer continue to trade and have decided to move on.”
Speaking to the Gazette, co-owner Alex Legret said: “The debt of Covid the rising cost of living, the trouble with suppliers due to Brexit. We've been crunched from every angle with the bills, the cost of staff going up in April and there's just nothing left in it anymore.”
He explained: “So we're struggling to find a reason to be running a business when, as owners, we're just working for nothing now and can't even pay ourselves.”
When asked how it feels to have to close The Lamb’s doors for good, he said: “I’m actually relieved, to be honest. It's a shame that we've got to leave it behind, but there's quite a bit of interest actually in people taking it on.”
The pub thanked its customers and staff who had have worked for them over the last three years.