Landlord of Britain’s highest pub says it prices £100,000-a-year to ‘keep the lights on’
Andrew Hields says no cables or pipes run to his 17th Century Tan Hill Inn which a has generator to power electrics and its own plumbing system to keep beer flowing
The landlord of Britain’s highest pub has said it costs £100,000-a-year to ‘keep the lights on’.
Andrew Hields, 40, said there are no cables or pipes running to his 17th Century Tan Hill Inn situated 1,732ft above sea level near Richmond, North Yorks.
He relies on a generator to power the electrics and the pub’s own plumbing system to keep the beer flowing.
The landlord, who has owned the iconic boozer famous for getting snowed in during the winter, for seven years and it was becoming an ever-increasing challenge.
He said: “This place pulled on all of my past experiences and skill sets and required me to learn fast as well.
“The challenging issues of staffing up here? The logistics of it all.
“It’s £100,000-a-year now to keep the lights on.
“That would cripple most other pubs but luckily a thousand people a week are coming through the doors which helps.”
Running the pub is a uniquely ‘tough business’, said Andrew, who relies heavily on marketing as ‘we’ve got no footfall’.
“We’re not in a city, we’re not near another tourist attraction,” he said.
“You have to treat the customer and the staff well and never take advantage of a customer at all. Try and give the best experience that represents your kind of offering that you want people to experience. Don’t try to be anybody else. “Every pub has got its own quirk which is usually represented by the owners.
“We try to amplify what the Tan Hill is when you come here, whether it’s the weather or the atmosphere inside or whatever’s going on outside.
“It’s got to be a labour of love because they’re tough businesses to run, especially nowadays. It’s a 365-job. There’s not much down time. We’ve got an amazing team here. It’s run on passion – that’s the fuel.”
The boozer has 11 guest and six staff bedrooms so they can stay during the week as it is 11 miles from nearest town Kirkby Stephen via a twisting single-track road across the Yorkshire Dales.
Pub manageress El Applegarth, 26, added: “We’re like a family. It’s a bit like a uni house. It’s magical. It’s a bit like going back in time.
“People actually talk to each other as they know they’re going to be stuck together. It’s not like there’s a few pubs around where you’ll go ‘I’ll see you at the next one’. It brings a lot of people together.”
