// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
'TV and cheap booze' blamed for landlord quitting
Landlord Patrick Hughes says fewer people are going to the pub
Former pub landlord Patrick Hughes is blunt when explaining why he has called time on his tenure behind the bar.
"I thought there was a gap in the market but there was no market for the gap", he said.
The 66-year-old took over The Royal Mail Cart pub in Spalding, in August 2025, hoping to attract customers with live music nights and "a sense of community".
Just over a year on he is packing boxes and looking around the empty rooms after he quit his tenancy with the pub's owner, Stonegate Group.
The government said it was supporting pubs with business rates discounts.
Patrick has given up his tenancy of The Royal Mail Cart in Spalding
Patrick told BBC Politics North that he blames a perfect storm of rising utility and wage prices, people's changing habits and major roadworks directly outside the pub, which began in the summer.
"These days people are used to staying at home, watching TV, having cheap drink from the supermarket or off licence and getting food deliveries," he said.
"To make a pub like this work you need to turn over £12,000 a week, some weeks we were doing quite well, around £8,000, but once the road works began outside that went down quite dramatically."