I see that the franchise lease on the reborn Foxton Locks Inn is now being advertised by S&N Enterprises. You'll need to invest at least £40,000, and they expect an annual turnover of around ten times that. If you have the spare cash and you've always wanted to run your own pub you can download a useful business plan PDF here.
I remember the old pub as a slightly uninviting place, the sort where, when it's quiet, the other customers look at you as you walk in, yet the bar staff were unavailable. For all that, it truly felt like a traditional local.
Perhaps that's why BW crowded it out. In a location that shovels in visitors by the coachload, it was a local pub for local people - the right business in the wrong place. Once Foxton Locks ceased to be a best-kept secret and the punters came in swarms, the old pub was surely doomed.
There's a good definition of the local pub for local people in the intro to the article 'Pub Sweet Pub' in the Williamette Week.
The traditional success predictor of any pub or restaurant is the three Ls. In this case, there are ten of 'em: locks, locks and more locks! The new pub can't fail, and the lease will probably attract a bigger premium than the £40k they are asking, although it'll be a more seasonal business than most because of its tricky location for public transport. It will be interesting to see what balance of sympathy the new leaseholders strike between gongoozlers and boaters. Certainly that £40k lease overhead means that bar prices won't - can't - drop. Say goodbye to the sub-£2 pint at Foxton. But pray to your god for a tenant who understands good ale, good food, and the fact that it's the boats which are bringing in the ambience and thus pulling the punters.
If you want to see how the pub used to be, there's a good waterside pic here. Hint to new lessee: why not offer boaters a privilege (e.g. onboard kids eat free)?
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