A COUPLE, who have run the same Hampshire pub for the past 18 years, have been unable to catch a break since the pandemic due to rising costs and declining staff levels.

The White Horse at Ampfield is desperately appealing for front-of-house and kitchen staff to join the team. Long-term managers John and Gaye Armstrong haven’t had a holiday in three years with no full-time members of staff to leave their business with.

Despite being hit by utility bills and food prices more than doubling, 74-year-old John is confident they can keep the pub, in Winchester Road, going and says the couple will run it on their own if they have to.

Mr Armstrong, who’s been in the industry for more than 50 years, said: “At the beginning of my career finding people who wanted to earn a little extra cash was simple. But since Covid, people have discovered weekends and evenings off and didn’t want to come back.

Hampshire Chronicle: The White Horse at Ampfield

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“Being a chef is not the easiest job in the world, it’s desperately hard work and equally for front of house. The old-style barmen and barmaids, who were happy to chat and would welcome you with open arms, have disappeared. We need people who like to talk but they’re getting harder to find.

“In this country, hospitality is not seen as a long-term job and lots of our part-time staff are students who come and go. It means me and my wife have to work a lot harder which is tiring.

“We need assistant managers and people who can run the kitchen when we’re not there. It’s not just us, the problem is becoming dangerously close for many publicans.”

Hampshire Chronicle: John and Gaye Armstrong

In addition to staffing, the White Horse managers have had to keep up with the cost of living, paying increasing rents and bills while keeping their own prices affordable.

John continued: “Utilities are a big nightmare, electricity has more than doubled. Cooking oil and flour have doubled, eggs, fish, you name it – they’ve all gone up.

“It’s almost a day’s wages to have a three-course meal and a bottle of wine and not everyone can afford that so they don’t come out. I’ve never seen anything like this in the last 50 years.

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“The pub has been here for 500 years and all the publicans got through it. I’m not always going to enjoy it but I will still be here, I’m the last one out the door. We can absolutely keep it going. We need all the help we can get but we will always get through it.

“To lose any pub is bad. This pub is completely unique. It’s in one of the most beautiful villages in England and I’m very happy living here.”

Currently, John and Gaye only have one other full-time member of staff in addition to about 10 others who work part-time. The couple would ideally like an assistant manager to join the team as well as another full-time front-of-house assistant, a sous chef and a kitchen porter.

Anyone interested in applying should contact the pub at whitehorseinn@hotmail.co.uk or call 01794 368356.