20/03/2024
🔔 Calling Time 🔔
🗓️ Saturday 23rd March
🎵 Live Music 8:30pm
It is our intention to go out in style! What better way than having Abstraction Engine playing here live at The King & Queen? Do hope you have a chance to come down and raise a glass, celebrate the good times and reflect on the memories we’ve all had in this wonderful pub🍻
🔔 Calling Time…
It’s with a very heavy heart, we have to say that we’ve come to the end of the road. The business is facing a time where it is no longer economically viable with the constant increases in overheads such as utilities along with other costs.
With this The King & Queen, once and for all, will-be calling “Time,” on Saturday 23rd March.
We appreciate the above will come as extremely disappointing news to you, we wholeheartedly wish to give our sincerest heartfelt gratitude and appreciation, to one and all, who have supported us during the three and a half years we’ve been here in Longcot.
The importance of pubs, local shops and Post Offices for communities cannot be empathised enough. People rely on them for many reasons, perhaps for company and an accessible safe place to go. Socialising is utmost for mental health. Local businesses, especially in hospitality, provide safe spaces for this. Please support local, keep small businesses alive, prevent them from becoming just another ‘government’ statistic!
Without our lovely King & Queen Team we would have never reached the goals we set out to achieve. “Thank you one an all. You have all worked tirelessly to offer our guests such fabulous service. You have all supported us through difficult times and this will never be forgotten. You all deserve the utmost respect. To help us win recognition in The Good Beer Guide every year, along with becoming CAMRA’s Vale of White Horse District Country Pub of the Year 2022 and Runners up in 2023. To gain a Booking.com rating of 9.3, Travel Proud Certification and Sustainability recognition, 5 Star Food Hygiene, Google Reviews at 4.7 amongst others, is all quite an achievement. You should all be very proud. We are, of each and every one of you.”
Taking on The King & Queen, in September 2020, was always going to be a challenge. However, we saw this period through, one of the lucky ones that came out the other side of the second set of pandemic lockdowns. Now our much-loved business is having to close. The inept handling of the economy by the powers that be, their naivety as to how small businesses work, lack of understanding of what value they have to a community. Decisions that have led to ongoing increments regarding overheads, which can no-longer be absorbed or proportionately passed-on to customers, unless of course, you are a global organisation!
There have been endless cries for assistance to the hospitality industry. When a pub is closing every twelve hours in the UK, then there has to be something amiss! With the Spring Budget now behind us, there was no sign of an ‘olive branch’ towards hospitality. The Chancellor failed to support pubs and small brewers. Our local MP, David Johnson is aware of the struggles we have been encountering, yet our pleas have fallen upon deaf ears.
For a community to have a pub close means that a unique social space is lost. England is rapidly losing it’s heritage, traditions and unique culture, this is before any impact on the local economy. The Campaign for Real Ale believe in 2023, local economies took a £100m hit from pubs closing!
Wherever you are, please try to support your local pub, shop, or any vital community asset.
It is our intention to ensure all our high standards are maintained through to our final trading day. Once again, “Thank you for giving us so many wonderful memories to take into the future, your patronage and loyalty to The King & Queen.”
Markus & Danielle 💕
