Insolvency firm Clarke Bell has navigated a successful liquidation process to help the UK’s oldest pub, Ye Old Fighting Cocks, to remain open under new management. Escalating business rates, taxations and the pandemic have had a devastating impact on the pub in St Albans which has been in business for over a thousand years.
Over the past few months Clarke Bell has worked with the pub management team to place the company into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL), while new management is found by the brewery.
Commenting on the experience Christo Tofalli, landlord at Ye Old Fighting Cocks, said:
“I worked tirelessly to keep the pub open, but it has been a struggle in the face of the pandemic. It is devastating that I have had to close my doors. However, Clarke Bell made the process as easy as possible, and I am delighted that the pub will open its doors again soon.
John Bell, director of Clarke Bell who managed the liquidation, said:
“Ye Old Fighting Cocks is another victim of the pressures which have hit the hospitality sector hard over the last two years. Chris (the landlord) has taken the best course of action available by using the liquidation process. It means that he can move on and the oldest pub in the UK will remain open, albeit under new management.”
