Award-winning Shropshire pub may get new lease of life as home
An award-winning Shropshire pub could be converted into a home after its owners decided the business will no longer work.
A planning application submitted to Shropshire Council has revealed that The Inn at Grinshill, between Whitchurch and Shrewsbury, could be turned into a residential building, because of ongoing struggles to keep the business going.
The inn, a Grade II listed Georgian property, would be used as a home by the current owners.
Currently, it is only open for private parties and bed and breakfast.
Documents put forward to Shropshire Council state that the business has become "unviable and unsaleable". Base Architects, on behalf of owners Kevin and Viki Brazier, said: "
Since its opening, the inn has received so many prestigious awards.
"Following the financial crash in 2008 and increasing competition from the Red Lion in Myddle and the Fox and Hounds in Shawbury, as well as more alternative local wedding venues, the takings began to decline."
The inn went into administration in 2013, before it began trading under a new name with a new business strategy.
However, the report states: "Despite the perseverance of the proprietors and the inn's established reputation, the business has proved not to be viable and the owners have been advised that the inn is currently unsaleable."
It comes shortly after news that other pubs in the region are looking at ways to diversify amid pressure on the industry.
In Telford, the owners of The Duke of York hope to offer rooms for the night by building a two-storey extension to create 15 bedrooms with en-suite facilities.
The former Stormy Petrel pub off the A41 in Tern Hill, near Market Drayton was recently demolished having closed in August 2010 when it was sold for £295,000 to developers who were hoping to convert it into a hotel.
Meanwhile, bosses at the Cleveland Arms in High Ercall hope building two homes and making major alterations will secure its future.
