The brutal end to a 23-year-old pub has been revealed by an insider.
One member of staff at the Last Drop Inn has revealed to YorkMix how they were all ‘totally blindsided’ by the sudden closure.
As YorkMix revealed on Friday, the Colliergate pub shut without warning that day.
The manager Alex Higginson told us its new owners, the Breal Group, “have looked at our building, realised that a lot of the building is of no use to them, and decided that The Last Drop Inn is no longer an asset”.
The Breal Group bought Black Sheep Brewery, and its pubs including the Last Drop, in May, after the brewery said it was appointing administrators.
Now the Last Drop member of staff, who YorkMix is not naming, has revealed how they were told of the closure.
“We were all informed on Wednesday that there was a meeting (which we assumed just to be about the takeover), and by Friday morning we were all out of a job.
“Every member of staff including the managers were totally blindsided by it.
“After being forced to quickly collect our belongings, were escorted off the property.”
The worker said it was all connected with the takeover. They claimed the Breal Group was allowed to buy the Black Sheep to enable it to expand, and claimed it was “never actually in danger of going into administration”.
“As far as I’m aware, most Black Sheep pub staff have been made redundant (including area managers and all the Leeds site’s staff) and the only Black Sheep pub to remain at all is the Three Legged Mare in York.”
They added: “The reason they cited for the closure was that the upstairs space in the pub was a waste of space and losing us money, and that it would cost far too much to do it up and make use of it.
“They didn’t say why it was such a sudden decision though, only that it was very last-minute on their end as well.”
Black Sheep’s Leeds pub, Foley’s Tap House, issued this stark statement on Friday: “Sadly Foley’s Tap House has closed its doors today.
“We would like to thank all of our loyal Black Sheep customers for your support over the last couple of years. Thank you.”
We have contacted the Breal Group for comment.
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