Who we are
My name is Anna and I have rented the Prince of Wales from Enterprsie Inns for 15 years. I have run The Prince of Wales pub as a conerstone of the Gloucester Road community with an ethos of supporting fellow indpendent traders. At the Prince of Wales we have been serving top quality local food, ales, ciders and soft drinks for over a decade. We source our meat from Gloucester Road legend, Tom Murray (153 Gloucester Road) and our olives from Spanish hero, El Comado (57 Gloucester Road). We frequently buy beer from our Ashley Down mate, Vince, whose brewery is 13 minutes walk away from our pub. We also support Bristol Beer Factory, New Bristol Brewery, Dawkins Ales and Bath Ales. Our reputation as a meeting place, cosy abode and traditional boozer is known throughout Bristol.
I spent many years living and working at The Prince of Wales. I now live in Somerset with my three children, however I still spend a considerable amount of time in Bristol assisting my fabulous managers Charlotte and Toby, who help maintain the original ethos of the pub. Everything I have built this pub to be and everything our customers love about The Prince of Wales is now at risk as Enterprise Inns threaten to take the keys from me and turn our pub into a generic chain. Local suppliers would no longer be supported and a company-managed house would stand in its place.
Dyaln, 13. Lauren, 11 . Clara, 6 months. Anna (That's me!) Charlotte and Toby.
What are we going to do?
I am not taking this threat from Enterprise lightly and plan on being the first Landlord in legal history to take the multi-million pound company to court over my right to keep The Prince of Wales as it is, a traditional local pub for the Gloucester Road community. The Prince of Wales is part of a large collection of independent shops, cafes and resturants which run along the Gloucester Road. The Bristol Post has suggested that "You could buy anything you ever need" on Gloucester Road, and that it captures the independent spirit of the local community well. A Barrett Homes report described Gloucester Road as having the longest row of independent shops in Europe.
Gloucester Road - Independent, individualistic and most certainly NOT a place for a chain pub!
This independent ethos encapsualted by The Prince of Wales would be at great risk if Enterprise Inns were to introduce their own managed house in place of our beloved local. Enterprise Inns want to forcibly remove me as a tenant from The Prince of Wales and turn it into a managed house run by the Bermondsey pub company. They aim to run a chain of 200 pubs by 2020, replacing individual characterful community pubs with generic chain branding.
The Prince of Wales today. 5 Gloucester Road.
The fight
I am the first landlord in legal history to confront Enterprise Inns over this policy. I have issued court proceedings in order to gain a new lease, so the Prince of Wales can continue to be an integral part of the Gloucester Road community. The only problem is fighting a multi-million pound company does not come cheap. The legal fees so far have totalled nearly £7000. The cost of the whole proceedings is estimated to be in the region of £40,000. The Prince of Wales can not afford to fight its battle alone. We are asking you for help. We are reaching out to our fellow Gloucester Road traders, our suppliers and our customers.
With this crowdfunding page, we aim to reach our goal of raising £33,000 to fund our legal battle. We understand that not everyone has change to spare, so please help us in any other way you can. Follow our Facebook page, sign the petition, share this information with your friends.
We need to shout, we need to make our independence known, we need to claim this free-house as our own.
Sign our petition!
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-prince-of-wales