The hardest thing to give up was contact.. the jokes, the banter, the daftness that goes on in our pub
We’re opening later, when everyone can be safe
ALAN HOGG ON PLAN TO TRADE AGAIN ON MAY 17
SPECIAL BREW Beers used for takeaway service
MAKEOVER Alan paints the pub
THE closure of the nation’s pubs signalled the start of what became a year of lockdown – and, sadly, many will never reopen.
Alan Hogg, 48, a former electrical management design engineer, is the landlord and owner of The Surtees Arms & Yard of Ale Brew Co.
He lives in Ferryhill, Co Durham, with wife Susan, 46, a care home manager, and, as he explains, the pandemic has turned his life upside down...
There was a massive amount of shock going round the bar after the announcement on March 20. We ended up with a full house, people turned out to support us. For us as a landlord this was horrible, you are not just a pub owner, you are somebody who lives in the community and you know everyone who comes in.
I was saying goodbye to people not knowing when I would see them again.
That was the hardest thing to give up – the contact, the jokes, the banter, the daftness that goes on in our pub. We
furloughed our one member of staff and the next day Susan and I cleaned the pub and went on a big walk to get the anger out. That Sunday was Mother’s Day, one of our busiest days.
I did things around the pub in April, like the upholstery, painting and DIY.
The grant came, which helped with the mortgage and the bills. We started takeaway beer which snowballed.
This helped cover some bills but it was worth a lot more in mental stability.
Around May was the time I started to get a little bit angry at the world.
Susan was OK, she had work to fall back on. Without her job, we would have had no real income coming in.
Queuing at supermarkets was one of the hardest things for me, it was all one-way systems and social distancing. It was really frustrating and it wasn’t the place I felt comfortable with. We also had to cancel our holiday.
We brewed beer quite a lot throughout the month to keep up with takeaway demand.
It was madness to hear we could open on July 4, we did everything we could and more to follow Government
guidelines. It was a buzz to get everyone back. We had a really good few weeks but we had to remind people to keep their distance from one another.
The second lockdown in November came and went, and we started the takeaway beers again.
But in December we had to stay closed because we were in Tier 2 and we didn’t serve food but we continued with takeaway beers which did well.
The kicker for us really was that we had no Christmas trade. We normally make around £10,000 on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone.
The blow for us was wet-led pubs
MARCH 23, 2020 - MARCH 23, 2021 couldn’t do takeaways in January. We could do deliveries from our brewery but we don’t have an off-licence for it, we only have an off-licence for the pub, even though we are on the same site.
For every month we’re closed we are losing anything from £10,000 to £20,000.
This third lockdown has been the hardest, it was darker and you didn’t see many people walking by.
We recently launched our new website, Yard of Ale Brewery, our new online shop. However, the next stage hinges on the council’s recovery grant.
We’re gearing up for April 12 when we will start takeaways. Outdoor sit-downs aren’t feasible for us at the moment. Plus who will want to sit outside in April – we’re not in the Mediterranean.
We’ve said we’re happier opening later when everyone can be safer, more vaccines are delivered and we can sit indoors. So we’re reopening on May 17 and we are looking forward to June 21, the fuller reopening of the country. Until then, we’ll carry on, the sun is shining and the days are longer now.