Wolverhampton's Walkabout to shut for good
The former Walkabout bar in Wolverhampton city centre is to close for good next month.
The Stone House will no longer be pulling pints after its owners said they had no choice but to close its doors due to losses.
Walkabout has been known as The Stone House since a major refurbishment last year. For 15 years, the Queen Street venue has been one of Wolverhampton's best known student haunts and the go-to place to watch major sporting events on TV.
Its closure comes after the pub underwent a £250,000 makeover in September.
It is part of national cuts with more Walkabout closures confirmed in other places such as Burnley, Doncaster, Middlesbrough and Nottingham.
iNTERTAIN, which owns the pub, said in a statement The Stone House had not been performing to the standard hoped for.
A spokesman for the hospitality company said: "iNTERTAIN, the company that owns The Stone House in Wolverhampton announced plans in January to reduce its debt and increase the level of investment in its bars across the UK in order to secure the long-term future of the business.
"In order to do this we needed to look at all our venues across the UK and assess their performance levels.
"Many were performing well, however a few sites were loss making, so to continue running them as they were was not viable.
"Unfortunately The Stone House is one of those venues. Due to current market conditions and the high level of rent we have to pay, the venue is making a loss.
"Additionally, our trading predictions do not see any change in this situation in the near future. It is therefore with sadness that we can confirm that the venue is likely to close in mid-March.
"This is a very sad day for us and our staff and it is not a decision we have taken lightly. Unfortunately though, we have no choice."
The decision to close the pub was met with little surprise by people in the city centre.
Suzanne Davey, 23, a University of Wolverhampton student added: "I've not been in there recently but my mates at university said it was not like how it used to be."
The Stone House manager Chris Brannigan declined to comment.
