'We worked for peanuts and tried everything' say pub owners as closed Walton-le-Dale venue hits the market
“We tried everything. We were working for peanuts...”
A craft beer and wine bar has hit the market in Walton-le-Dale after its owners retired following a six-year struggle to make the pub profitable.
Sean and Debbie O’Hagan closed Taps & Wine Bar in Chorley Road last October citing difficult trading conditions since opening in 2019.
The couple purchased the former Conservative Club at auction and said they “tried everything” to make the pub thrive. But after six years, they were forced to close the doors and have since retired.
The pub, at the junction with Higher Walton Road and Victoria Road, hit the market in April with an asking price of £350,000, which has since been reduced to £275,000.
Sean and Debbie said: “We have refurbished the building to a high standard, but we realise there is a limit to what we can achieve especially at this stage in our life.
“Therefore, we feel the bar could be an extremely profitable business in the right hands and we look forward to seeing it be developed further by new owners.”
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“We tried everything. We worked for peanuts”
Announcing the pub’s closure last September, they said: “Since opening back in November 2019, it has been an extremely difficult time and it is no secret that hospitality has suffered.
“We have tried everything, but we are just couple of locals who opened the bar after we saw so many in the area close and we had no experience in the industry.
“We got Sky & TNT Sports on our huge 98inch TV screen in a desperate effort to save the business, we had it installed but this has proved to be the final nail in our coffin, as the cost is high and it didn’t bring in enough sales to cover the cost.
“We also changed our opening hours over the summer because we had no one came in for the first hour or more and then we got people saying we don’t know when you are open, despite publishing our hours on FB, google, in the bar and on the outside of the door.
“One by one, we have seen many customers disappear to other establishments and now we are left with too few to sustain the business unfortunately.
“We haven’t taken much from the business since we opened in 2019 and unfortunately we work for peanuts and like so many others, and unfortunately winter is coming and the energy bills are getting higher as is the cost of stock.”
Sean and Debbie added: “Since purchasing the property in 2018, and opening the ground floor bar in November 2019, we have put our heart and soul into the Taps & Wine Bar during some difficult times for the hospitality industry.
“When we started the bar, we were novices in the hospitality industry, with an idea and a desire to save a much-needed facility in our community.
“We have refurbished the building to a high standard, but we realise there is a limit to what we can achieve especially at this stage in our life.
“Therefore, we feel the bar could be an extremely profitable business in the right hands and we look forward to seeing it be developed further by new owners.”
James Dodd, business agent at Christie & Co who is managing the sale, said: “We are pleased to bring this popular bar/restaurant to the market, which offers plenty of opportunities for a new buyer.
“We hope to find the right buyer for this business to help the owners move on after building Taps & Wine Bar to the successful community establishment it is today.”
On the ground floor, the main bar area seats 55 patrons along with an outside trading area. On the first floor there is a restaurant serving 50 covers with a fully fitted commercial kitchen, and there is scope for further development of this offering under new ownership to maximise food sales.