Decision to close Langley pub 'not taken lightly' says owner
The owner of a Sandwell pub has said that she had been left with no option but to close down.
Karen Cooper said the decision to close the Crosswells Inn on Whyley Walk in Langley had not been taken lightly and had only come after running at a loss for months and, she said, no support from the owners Stonegate Group.
The timber-framed Crosswells Inn on the corner of Langley's High Street and Broad Street had closed its doors for the last time on Sunday, with a Facebook message making the announcement of the closure.
Ms Cooper had been the new owner of the pub since September last year after previous bosses Tina and Phil Archer had retired earlier that month and said a mixture of lack of support and losing money had meant she had to close the pub.
She said: "Unfortunately, we lost the support of the local community and I've been forced to shut the doors, which is not a decision I've taken lightly, but which has been going on for months.
"You need money to trade and, unfortunately, we don't have enough and that's that as I've been running at a loss since I took over the place and I feel like I've had no support from Stonegate, even when I've asked for it."
Ms Cooper said she and her team had worked as hard as they could, but the footfall hadn't been there, and apologised to those people who had booked the function room and said she would sort out refunds.
She said: "The people who had this place previously had run it for 30 years and were well loved and respected by the local community, so I knew that there were going to be big shoes to fill, but I thought we could give it a try.
"Sadly, things didn't work out and go as well as I would have hoped and I'm sorry to all the people who had booked in to use our function room, but I will worked to ensure all booking fees are returned.
"Without the support of the local community, you can't have a pub, so I've had to make this decision."
A spokesman for Stonegate Group said: “We can confirm that the current publican at the Crosswells Inn in Oldbury has decided to close the pub.
"We respect her decision and are now recruiting for a new publican.
"For anyone interested in taking on this exciting opportunity, look out for updates on our pub partners website.”