Fuller's 'Surprised' To Hear Concerns About The Black Horse
Company says it has no plans to close Greenford pub
The Black Horse pub in Greenford. Picture: Fuller's
Fuller's, the owner of The Black Horse in Greenford, has said that it surprised that a petition has been launched to save The Black Horse in Greenford as it has no plans to close it.
Over one thousand people had signed the petition started by Ealing North MP James Murray just three days after he started it. He was responding to concerns that the much loved pub by the Grand Union Canal might be sold for redevelopment.
The MP wrote to Fuller's and he felt that the response from its Chief Executive was ambiguous. In his reply Simon Emeny said, “It has been interesting to see the development in Greenford and the recent sale of [nearby pub] The Railway. If we can see a strong future, particularly around strong local community engagement, we like to invest for the long term. If not we do look at alternatives.”
As a result Mr Murray launched a petition on Friday, 25 June, writing: “We are fortunate to have The Black Horse as a fantastic pub in the heart of Greenford. It has been an incredibly tough time under covid, but now the pub is open again and as popular as ever.
“However, rumours have been going round about the future of the pub. That's why I wrote to Fuller's, who own the pub, to ask them about their plans for its future - and I was worried by their reply.
“We need to make sure Fuller's know how strongly the local community feels about keeping this pub open. This is our chance to send a clear message to Fuller's – please sign my petition.”
The petition is online at www.jamesmurray.org/blackhorse.
A spokesperson for Fuller Smith & Turner said, “We are surprised to hear about the petition. As a long-standing owner and operator of pubs we only rarely sell sites, our preference is to invest and grow our share from competitors. Inevitably we do review our estate on a regular basis, but if we can see a strong future, particularly around strong local community engagement, we like to invest for the long term.
“Having been closed for so long, it's been good to reopen The Black Horse and we have no plans to close it. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that we can trade without restrictions from 19 July.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
June 29, 2021