Pub will not be closed for good, says Parkers owner
FEARS a west Hull pub will close for good after 243 years have been allayed by the owners.
Parkers in Anlaby Road closed its doors this week, which operational manager Kriss Moore blames on the effects of coronavirus.
The pub, which has stood on the junction of Walton Street and Anlaby Road since 1777, was forced to close alongside pubs and restaurants up and down the country in March this year when the national lockdown was put into place.
Despite reopening in July, the pub has not seen as much footfall as it usually would and the decision to close it has been made.
However, Admiral Taverns, which owns the pub, says the closure is not permanent and plans to reopen when a new licensee has been found.
A spokesperson from Admiral said: “At Admiral Taverns, we are committed to running sustainable pub businesses and we’re pleased to report we are not planning to close the Parkers for good.
“We are currently carrying out maintenance works at the pub and are recruiting for a new licensee to run Parkers, which we hope to reopen as soon as possible.”
Parkers is well-known with sports fans, as the place to go for any fan sitting in the home and away stands at the KCOM stadium.
However, with rugby and football fans unable to watch Hull FC and Hull City in person, footfall at Parkers has decreased.
According to Mr Moore, the “nail in the coffin” was the cancellation of Hull Fair. Fairgoers could often be found supping a pint in the friendly Parkers and it is home of the fair’s “Mad Sunday” where the workers spend their day off.
Mr Moore told the Mail: “Me and my Mrs are the last tenants. We’ve been here for five years now.
“If Covid-19 hadn’t happened wouldn’t have been like this.
“We thought at the start of lockdown it would be a couple of weeks or months, but we are it
six months down the line now.
“A lot of our footfall came from the games and Hull Fair and because sports fans can’t go and Hull Fair has been cancelled it’s just not there.”
Mr Moore claimed the pub will not reopen because no one will take up the challenge.
He said: “No one will take it on and there is no trade for it until sport comes back. It is the nail in the coffin, we don’t get a lot of passing trade anyway because we’re on the end of the street. It’s just not feasible for us. We don’t know when it will open up again as a pub.”
Parker’s will be boarded up today while renovations take place.