"Heartbroken” landlady evicted from Southsea pub by Stonegate and made homeless with two small children
A “heartbroken” landlady evicted from a popular Southsea pub and placed into temporary accommodation with her two small children has described it as the “worst time ever”.
Sarah Lucas was taken to court by Stonegate in August to evict her from the Rutland Arms - which was then boarded up. The search is now on for a new landlord.
Sarah, who had been landlady for over a year at the Francis Avenue pub, said she “gave it everything” and was “proud” of what she had achieved in her time there. But she cited a lack of support from Stonegate amid rising tensions before she said she was forced out of the pub she loved.
The venue briefly shut in February before reopening days later with the 42-year-old telling The News at the time how Stonegate had terminated her agreement for “financial reasons” before she carried on after wanting to stay.
Sarah said of her ejection from the pub on September 15: “They wanted to evict me but I had nowhere to go so I carried on running it. They took me to court and they got possession and I had to go into temporary accommodation with my kids. Then they boarded it up. It’s been the worst time ever.
“I gave it everything. I know I made it work. I’m absolutely devastated with what Stonegate has done. There’s not been the support there should be. It was set up to fail. If I’d had the support I would have made it work.
“I’m very proud of what I did for my first pub. It’s just a shame it ended in the worst way possible. I never expected to be in this position. It was meant to be a big change for me and the kids and the start of a good new life.”
Sarah revealed that everything she earned went “straight back into the business” with debt from the pub accruing onto her personal bank account as she tried to stem the tide.
Getting approved stock into the pub supplied by the brewery also became an issue. “They weren’t able to get stock to me in time and agreed I could buy my own stock but then fined me anyway for doing it,” Sarah said. “I was getting in a deeper pit. I was never able to make any money and was in a great big hole and kept digging to make it work.”
Sarah said she was given two weeks to leave the pub in August but had “nowhere to go” so stayed at the location. “The (legal) advice was not to leave which made the process longer but more uncomfortable,” she said. “I gave up my home and job for this pub so had no choice but to stick it out. It was cruel for them to take it away like that.”
The former landlady continued: “If I had the support the pub would be flying. People were saying they couldn’t wait to come back to the pub (when it closed). The football crowd knocked on the door to see how I was after I was attacked (by burglars in the pub).” She said police later closed the case after it transpired CCTV in the pub was not working.
Sarah added: “I would go back into the trade - I love it and I’m good at it - but I would have to assess the situation. I would definitely go in with a lot more knowledge and business acumen.
“It’s been the hardest lesson - a harsh and fast lesson in business. Any mistakes wouldn’t happen as I know better now. The pub became popular again. The punters were great.”
A spokesperson for Stonegate Group said: "We'd like to thank Sarah for all the hard work she has put in into making the Rutland Arms a much-loved pub within the Southsea community. We are currently recruiting for a new publican to run the popular pub and we are working hard to ensure that the pub can reopen as soon as possible."
When asked about the circumstances of Sarah’s eviction, the spokesperson added: “I'm afraid we can't go into details but essentially the situation was that Sarah's agreement with Stonegate ended, but she failed to vacate, so we were put in a position where we were forced into eviction.”