The Old Spring – a Cambridge pub since 1868 – is up for sale

2022-09-24 04:42:58 By : Ms. Vivi Xiong

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The Old Spring, the independent pub on the corner of Ferry Path and Chesterton Road since 1868, has been put on the market at £150,000.

The decision to sell the premises was taken by landlady Joanna Coulton following a run of unfortunate events at the pub, which has become a popular ‘finer dining’ venue under her guidance since 2019.

As previously reported in the Cambridge Independent, the pub’s energy supplier, Pozitive Energy, failed to record the submitted meter readings and then billed the pub for their mistake on last year’s energy use at this year’s rates. That error has now been resolved, but it wasn’t easy – nor was it a pleasant experience.

After a complaint was made to Ofgem the energy regulator, the incorrect bill – for which payment had been demanded in 10 days – was scrubbed and a bill for the correct amount was submitted to Joanna after more than three weeks of anxious phone calls and emails. She was given a £30 rebate as a ‘goodwill’ gesture.

“Thirty pounds is better than nothing but the whole thing has been a comedy,” said Joanna of the outcome. “There was no apology in the email, it was more like they were doing us a favour. But it’s been cleared and they now have to respect my prices and meter readings.”

As the issue was being sorted, thieves stole the cast-iron chairs at the front of the pub in the early hours of September 5.

“We’d had them painted so they looked nice,” says Joanna. “They parked round the corner – it’s on CCTV. It was two men. They’re heavy chairs: they took seven out of eight chairs, and a cast-iron bench.”

Joanna has gradually developed the pub’s potential since taking it on in 2019 as a Greene King hostelry and then becoming an independent.

“I’m lucky here because I’ve got a very good team,” she says. “I’ve been able to bring up the pub to a much higher standard than it was before and I don’t want it to now disappear.

“When I started it was 70 per cent wet – drinks – and 30 per cent food. I’ve swapped that around and we are now food-led which is much more profitable. It’s a gastropub.

“We are still a pub, a place where people can come and enjoy themselves, plus we offer finer dining. Not fine dining where you dress up to go, but you can still enjoy your dinner with a pint of Wherry.”

The venue has gradually been remodelled during Joanna’s tenure.

“I’ve run businesses before and for the first two years I’ve invested and upgraded the infrastructure,” says Joanna. “And it shows. It was all reinvested in 2019 and 2020, 2021 was a recovery from Covid and now we’re fine, we’re back on track, it’s just the owner needs a break – I haven’t had a holiday for the last three years. I want to step back and allow fresh blood to take it on.”

Her personal agenda involves spending more time in her native Poland.

“My biggest concern is my parents are getting older, the nearest help is four hours away, so I’m considering going back, but I’ve got two step-daughters living here…”

The property is being marketed through Everard Cole.

Cambridgeshire police said the cast-iron chairs were stolen from the front of the pub between 2.30am and 2.40am on Monday, September 5.

“An investigation has been launched and anyone who has any information is urged to contact police via our web chat service quoting crime reference 35/64358/22, or call us on 101 if you do not have internet access,” said a spokesperson.