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02
Jun
Harrogate pub shuts, but exiting landlord hopes to see it reopen soon
One of Harrogate’s best-loved community pubs closed its doors last night after its tenants announced their departure.
Mike and Donna Schofield took the reins at the Shepherd’s Dog on Harlow Hill in 2013 and developed the pub into a thriving local hub.
But Mr Schofield said that recent developments have made the business too challenging to continue.
He told the Stray Ferret:
It’s been the victim of circumstances, really. We had covid, and then rising costs have made things very difficult: wages, utility bills, the rising cost of stock – everything's getting more expensive.
We had it on the market for 18 months and there was quite a bit of interest, and we also looked around for investors and backers, but nothing came of it.
He said he would be handing the keys back to the brewery, Mitchells & Butlers, this week, but he hoped the pub would not remain closed for long. He said:
I like to think they’ll get a holding company in – that's how we first got involved with it.
I can say it will not become a Sainsbury’s or Tesco Express – the brewery has never expressed any interest in selling the premises.
I 95% guarantee it will reopen soon.
He said he had thoroughly enjoyed the last 12 years at the Shepherd’s Dog, and felt that he and Donna had done a good job of reviving the pub.
He said:
It’s been superb. From day one, the community has embraced us and backed us in everything we’ve done, and we’ve been able to build it back from a very quiet pub to the thriving heart of the community.
It’s been fantastic to see people come together and socialise, and Harlow Hill become a very vibrant, positive community again.
He said he was also pleased that the business the couple opened in the premises next door during the 2020 lockdown, Wharfedale Fruiterers, had been so successful that it had been bought by Regal Fruiterers, which still runs it.
Mr Schofield represents the Harlow and St George’s division on North Yorkshire Council – formerly as a Liberal Democrat but now as an independent – and said he would now be able to spend more time on council business.
He said:
I still have two years to serve, and this will give me more time to devote to that, and to get together with the two new Harrogate town councillors for this part of the town to discuss how they best want to support this community.
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