Britain's oldest pub forced to close 'after 1,229 years'

Britain’s oldest pub forced to close ‘after 1,229 years’. The pub had survived plagues and wars but has finally been beaten by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hertfordshire’s Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans is said to be the oldest pub in Britain. After more than a thousand years it has gone into administration due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Landlord Christo Tofalli took to Facebook to announce the sad news. He revealed: “It is with great sadness that I have to announce that today, after a sustained period of extremely challenging trading conditions, YOFC Ltd has gone into administration.
“Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going. However, the past two years have been unprecedented for the hospitality industry, and have defeated all of us who have been trying our hardest to ensure this multi-award-winning pub could continue trading into the future.”
The pub landlord revealed how he had been fighting to keep the pub afloat before the pandemic hit due to taxes and business rates. According to Christo before the pandemic “things were already extremely tough.”
The landlord had a five-year plan though and was still managing to survive. He explained: “But we were able to survive and were following an exciting five-year plan and were hopeful for the future,
“However, the Covid-19 pandemic was devastating and our already tight profit margins gave us no safety net.
“This resulted in us being unable to meet our financial obligations as they were due, creating periods of great uncertainty and stress for all who worked for, and with, the pub.”
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks was named as the oldest pub in Britain by Guinness World Records.
The landlord has been left heartbroken by the closure. Christo said: “It goes without saying I am heartbroken: this pub has been so much more than just a business to me, and I feel honoured to have played even a small part in its history,
“I am even more heartbroken for my incredible team and the wider Fighting Cocks family.”

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