Family's 'thank you' message to customers as Wem pub closes doors

Dawn Davies said her family had been forced to make the ‘heartbreaking decision’ to terminate their lease at the Horse and Jockey, Ellesmere Road, Northwood after becoming victims of the cost-of-living crisis.

Dawn, husband Derren and daughters Taylor and Kaitlin called time on the business after welcoming customers for one final time yesterday.

And they posted on Facebook: "A sad day as The Horse and Jockey draws to a close on our final day here. We do so wish this could this could be a different story!

"We wish to thank all family, employees, friends and customers – old and new – for all the support they have given us over our two years here.

"We truly live in hope that your village pub will thrive again so that we can join you all once again on the other side of the bar!"

The family had taken on the lease during lockdown in November 2020 and early signs had been positive.

But Dawn said the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices and the cost-of-living have now forced them to cut their losses.

“You look at things like the cost of oil and mayonnaise, for example," she said.

"I used to pay £4 for a bucket of mayonnaise and now it’s between £10-£15. The price of fish doubled. It’s been crazy.

“The electricity is, of course, another scary one. The overheads we have with that here are just unbelievable and, certainly, I fear others won’t be able to make pubs pay.”

Despite making the decision to cut their losses, Dawn said she had no regrets. and added: “We have worked hard as a family.

“My daughters work here, my husband, I’ve been cooking in the kitchen. It’s been a nice environment to work in but it is what it is.

“We don’t regret it for a minute but we have ploughed a lot of personal money into it that we will never get back and unfortunately we can’t keep doing that.

"I worry there are going to be a lot of pubs in a similar situation in the next six months, for sure.”