A Perth pub owner has said rising energy costs is the reason for closing her business.
Helen Ratcliffe, who owns Perth pub The King James with her husband Billy, has seen her bills rise by over £40,000 a year since last April.
The pub owner has revealed she will be handing the lease back to pub operator Greene King, who will look for new tenants.
Helen says her problems “could be stemmed back to covid” when hospitality was forced to shut.
‘Price of electricity has killed us’
She told The Courier: “Covid was a really difficult time for us, it could all be stemmed back to that.
“During that time I actually took on another job because we didn’t know what was going to happen.
“However, we thought we were getting back on our feet, I came back here full time.
“Unfortunately, our electricity deal came up for renewal, just as the new higher rates were announced.
“It meant our electricity was going to triple – we couldn’t take out any wages and we were losing money.
“We went from spending £10,200 plus VAT a year on electric to £56,000 plus VAT.
“The electricity has killed us, the price of food has killed us, the price of alcohol has killed us.
“We already had debt from covid, and we didn’t want to end up in more due to this.”
Hiking up prices ‘not a viable route’
The Kinnoull Street pub owner said she put her own prices up as far as she could but was did not want to rip off customers.
She added: “The whole way people go out since covid has changed.
“For us to to rise prices when supermarkets aren’t as much – it’s not a viable route to go.
“It was never really been about money. As long as we had a busy pub we were happy, but it’s become too stressful.
“I’d rather go out of the pub while we are still doing ok, than wait six months and end up in a situation where we are in debt.
“We have to think about ourselves and family – it’s heart-breaking.”
Helen and her husband have decided to step away from hospitality and both have full-time jobs lined up.
Pub jobs safe despite potential closure
Despite uncertainty around who will next own the pub, which is famously the site where King James I of Scotland was killed, operator Greene King have confirmed staff will not be losing their jobs.
Helen, who has owned the pub since 2009 said: “Greene King have told me that the staff are safe.
“If they don’t find another tenant when my lease is up however, the building will have to close.
“Since we announced the closure, we’ve has messages of support, with businesses telling me they’re facing the same.
“It’s been heart warming to know how much people have appreciated how we’ve run our business.
“We haven’t done this on a whim, it’s took a lot to get to this place.”
