Brecon pub to improve

A run-down hotel and bar in the centre of Brecon is set to get a new lease of life next year when it reopens as a Wetherspoons pub in February 2017. The George Hotel, once a regular entry in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide shut in January this year and was in such a bad state of repair the refurbishment works will take over a year before the building is once again suitable for use. The hotel was dropped from the Good Beer Guide after the dramatic drop in beer quality when the hotel was purchased by the later disqualified company director and former gay nightclub owner, Simon Buckley.



Some of the reviews from Trip Advisor are worth repeating:

“Not recommended Terrible & rude customer service”
I would not recommend this pub or hotel as the staff are extremely rude and unhelpful and obviously do not need customers.

“apathetic”
We had an 8 month old and an 11 month old with us who were excellently behaved throughout, which is more than can be said for the female member of staff there.

“Disorganised”
Everything seemed very disorganised and lots of people were moaning. I will not be going back there again. If this is the service you get for a meal, I dread to think what it would be like to be a guest at this hotel.

“Dreadful Sunday Lunch - Avoid this place!!!!”

Avoid this place at all costs or you will waste your money and be left disappointed, hungry and annoyed. So much so it has prompted me to deliver this critical but honest review for the benefit of others.

Visited on a Bank holiday. They were short staffed, waited hour and a half for our food which they had forgotten about!! Food very disappointing when it eventually arrived. Will Not be visiting again.

“Wetherspoons with bad service. ”

Service was short, snappy, rude and when the chef came out to tell the staff the wait was now 1hr I was neglected to be told (I merely overheard). My partner ordered a mixed grill and was laughed at in the face with no explanation. 
When another table came to sit near us they closed the kitchen clearly unable to cope with a medium busy Saturday night. 
And most of the food was obviously bought in frozen!

Although there are a few good reviews, it does raise suspicions when they are posted by staff members!

Back in 2011, The George Hotel scored a zero out of 5 for food hygiene

The George Hotel in Brecon scored so low because:

Compliance Food Hygiene and Safety 

Some major non-compliance with statutory obligations

"Repeat issue re fridge. High risk stored"  

Structural

Some major non-compliance with stat obligations

"Grease to walls. Cleaning issues" 

Confidence in Management Systems 

Poor track record of compliance, little or no technical knowledge. Little or no appreciation of hazards or quality control. 

"No food safety management".

Not the type of place you'd really want to eat in is it?

Still at least when Wetherspoons opens there the George will improve dramatically.

Elsewhere in Brecon, the Bull's Head pub is still shut and has been since 2010 apart from brief openings during Brecon Jazz Festival. Another pub owned by Simon Buckley, this was once a successful and thriving pub until he turned his reverse Midas touch to the premises and drove the customers away with his barely drinkable beer and attitude of the staff. So that's two former CAMRA Good Beer Guide pubs shut in the market town of Brecon. The Temperance Movement did not even manage that!

Oh and in a recent email from Buckley to the Brew Wales editor, he claims now that he is in communication with the dead! He is clearly bonkers!

 

Simon Buckley disqualified as a company director director for 3 years

Well, well, well, former gay nightclub boss and brewer of indifferent beer, Simon Buckley, has been banned from acting as a company director for 3 years. 


Case details for SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: Welsh Estates Limited
Date of Birth: 1957-09-02 00:00:00.000
Date Order Starts: 2014-10-20 00:00:00.000
Disqualification Length: 3 Years 0 Month(s)
CRO Number: 05219412
Last Known Address: 2 Abbey Terrace, , , , Llandeilo, SA19 6BD
Conduct: (i) Mr Simon Buckley failed to ensure that Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) complied with its statutory obligations to HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) to file timely returns and make payments from at least 01 November 2007 to the date of liquidation on 26 January 2011. HMRC’s final Value Added Tax (“VAT”) claim at liquidation was £590,522. In particular: 

• VAT returns totalling £147,115 for 13 monthly periods from September 2007 to January 2008, March 2008 to August 2008 and November and December 2008, were not submitted until 2 and 3 April 2009. The oldest outstanding return for the period September 2007 was therefore filed 17 months late, with the earliest outstanding return for the period December 2008 filed 2 months late. HMRC were unaware of these liabilities until those dates, previously considered them to total £40,764 in central assessments.

 • According to HMRC's records no returns were submitted for the months January and February 2009, December 2009 and February 2010 to October 2010 leading to assessments of £325,810. • HMRC raised surcharges totalling £90,078 in respect of the late and non-filed returns of which £67,740 remains unpaid. • From 15 February 2008 to 07 October 2009 HMRC received payments from Welsh Estates totalling £115,750 in respect of VAT. Nothing was paid after 07 October 2009, although the company continued trading until October 2010, leading to estimated arrears before surcharges at liquidation of at least £354,162.

 • If all payments are set against the earliest VAT debt there is still £14,325 due for August 2008, payable in full by 30 September 2008.
 (ii) He caused Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) from at least 01 January 2010 until cessation of trade on or around 31 October 2010 in respect of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) estimated at £156,031.

In particular:
 • On 31 December 2009 Welsh Estates had VAT arrears of £126,756. It subsequently incurred additional VAT liabilities of £156,031. The last payment made by Welsh Estates in respect of VAT was received on 07 October 2009. 

• Bank payments were made between 01 January 2010 and 31 October 2010 of £1,740,796 of which nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of VAT. • Company records show that trade creditors decreased by £256,171 from 01 January 2010 to 31 October 2010 whilst the outstanding VAT increased by £156,031 in the same period. 
This information is correct as at 2014-10-13 00:00:00.000

Do the new Wetherspoons beermats have a connection with the owner of this brewery?

An interesting question to ask, regarding the mad, sad, twisted old drama queen and former gay nightclub boss Simon Buckley. Although, I understand, since his days and nights on the gay nightclub scene he has decided that he prefers moose knuckles to the tradesman's entrance. Allegedly.

Brewer critical of CAMRA beer festival before it opens!

Welll it seems like the Llandeilo Village Idiot is up to spreading his usual lies again, although this time he picks on his local CAMRA Beer Festival via his company website  (screenshot above in case its removed after his meds kick in).

"Why do we let these amateurs call themselves brewers. I tasted some really poor beers at the festival. Badly made, badly constructed, and frankly some of them microbiologically unstable".

Well, in one way it's your own fault for drinking your own beers!

Okay, let's look at the facts, according to the Evan Evans webpage the above was posted on October 2nd, a day before the Festival even opened (Thursday the 3rd) and according to staff at the Festival, Simon Buckley did not even turn up at the Festival until Saturday 5th October. Hmm telling lies about CAMRA cellarmanship and the brewers of Wales before the Festival has even opened and before he has even tasted the beers? Looks like Buckley has lost the plot once again. Once again his lies and mistruthsare there to be exposed to all.

Links to the webpage were posted on Social Media earlier this week and here are what people said,

"I was volunteering at the festival all the open sessions and the statement is simply not true! Full marks for slagging off the event 3 day before they were there!"

"I know actual amateurs who brew much better than Evan Evans"

"Never buying any of his beers again!"

"That's shocking behaviour!"

"Outspoken brewers slagging off their competition!.... glad I don't know anyone like that!"

"He wants to be careful, coming from Llanelli and calling others "microbiologically unstable"

"I've had Evans Evans beer. Medicore would be about the best description of Cwrw!"

"Idiot!"

Well there you have it, a round up of what people think of the untrue comments of the Llandeilo Village Idiot, hardly surprising a few years ago a CAMRA beerfestival had to ban him for, amongst other things, "Threatening and violent behaviour". Oh dear, well maybe his behaviour will change when his meds kick in again?

UPDATE:
The post was removed from the Evan Evans website, only to re-appear a few days later with the date changed to the 7th October! Good job we have the screen shot above so everyone can see the bile and lies the Llandeilo Village Idiot spouts!

Scores on the Doors - filthy pubs

 

Further to my previous posts on the 'Scores on the Doors' scheme run by the Food Hygiene Agency, I decided to make Freedom of Information requests to a couple of councils to find out why a couple of pubs had scored so low on the scheme.

Cardiff Council were the first to respond but there was a delay from Powys Council - above is a screenshot from the Food Standards Agency website regarding the George Hotel in Brecon which scored a 0/5 - the website does not go into detail as to why the score was so low, hence the FOI request.

The George Hotel in Brecon scored so low because:

Compliance Food Hygiene and Safety 

Some major non-compliance with statutory obligations

"Repeat issue re fridge. High risk stored"  

Structural

Some major non-compliance with stat obligations

"Grease to walls. Cleaning issues" 

Confidence in Management Systems 

Poor track record of compliance, little or no technical knowledge. Little or no appreciation of hazards or quality control. 

"No food safety management".

Not the type of place you'd really want to eat in is it?

The company that owns the George in Brecon also runs the Cricketers in Cardiff which scored marginally better with 1/5

I did get banned from the Cricketers early this year after I complained to the owner via email that his pub stank of fish, which it does. Good job I did not eat in this place as the inspectors found:

Confidence in management/control procedures

"....have not carried out the kind of logical but simple analysis of the food safety hazards present that is required by current food legislation"

Compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures

"Several ready-to-eat food items found in the desert and sandwich trays were found past their use-by-date"
Oh dear, serving out-of-date food to your customers! Is the pub called the Cricketers or the Crapeters?
Compliance with structural requirements
"Ice-making machine was dirty".
"Window in the kitchen left open and provided easy access for pests"
No doubt attracted by the smell of fish from the pub.
"Fridge/freezer in the kitchen was not clean".
"Door seal of the fridge was dirty".
"Floor covering in the kitchen was dirty".
"Ceiling above the hot cupboard in the kitchen was dirty".

Not a glowing report, though I understand improvements have been made. It is odd that the George in Brecon appears to have had less serious issues than the Cricketers in Cardiff, but was given 0/5 rather than 1/5. It seems to be that each council environmental health departments have different criteria to awarding the scores.

The owner of these premises proudly states that he has access to my Facebook account and is in fact  cyberstalking me, if anyone is interested, below is a screenshot from Linkedin account to show that he does indeed read this blog and follow my Twitter updates.

 

Still at least while he is cyberstalking me he is not bullying his staff!

Brewer faces payout over gay jibes

From the Daily Post, click image to enlarge.
I think the article says it all.
Buckley was unavailable for comment as, according to a source at Evans-Evans Brewery, "He is on holiday in the South of France". Nice for some, being able to afford that, unlike his former employees who will be lucky to get a fraction of what they were awarded as the company has since gone into liquidation.
Odd that the person who made these comments is a former public schoolboy who later ran a gay nightclub - he doth protest too much methinks! Its also not the first time the old crook has cast such mistruths - I have been a victim of his attacks as well - check out this site - the photos are used illegally as well, still copyright theft is just another of the long list of crimes that can be added to his charge sheet.

Wonder how long the Carmarthen Journal will wish to associate itself with a columnist who holds such views as this?

Update:
It appears that Buckley has ordered his 'partner' to remove the offending post, however here it is available as found on the Google cache:"
"This is Google's cache of http://walesbrew.blogspot.com/2010/02/james-daley-voice-from-closet.html. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 23 Apr 2011 21:35:13 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime.

These terms only appear in links pointing to this page: http walesbrew blogspot com 2010 02 james daley voice from closet html "

 One doth protest too much methinks Mr Buckley!

Yes I am familiar with such language as having studied both Greek and Latin and attending University I would be converse with such terms. Come on Simon, if you disappear any further into the closet you will be in Narnia. Time to step out into the real world for once?

Update 2:
It seems the Daily Mail have picked up on the story as has the Pink News - comments are worth reading on the latter.

Welsh Brewery in Liquidation

The London Gazette is not on my usual list of reading material but a Welsh brewer sent me this little gem which appears to show the company behind the Evans Evans beer brands has gone into liquidation. Now to those who follow the trials of tribulations of Simon Buckley know that it is no big surprise that another of his companies has gone to the wall yet again.
In what has been described as by the brewery as, "A complicated company restructure", it would appear that the brewery is still brewing, the assets of the Buckley Bros Brewing & Brands Ltd having been transferred to another company before liquidation, in what some might say sounds allegedly like a phoenix company fraud. Now the Brew Wales team are not going to be spending hours going through the various accounts of Buckley Bros Ltd, Welsh Estates Ltd or Beer Brands Ltd or whatever name the brewery is trading under this week, we shall leave that job to the forensic accountants who are no doubt sniffing around the remains of the liquidated company attempting to discover what has happened to investors money.
After the economic failure of Y Cadno, the flagship Evan Evans pub that was situated on Cathedral Road, Cardiff, one can only wonder how much longer this brewery will continue trading under any name.

Above: the state of one of Simon Buckley's companies, Beer Brands Ltd, according to Companies House

Below: Welsh Estates Ltd, again from Companies House

Hardly a healthy state of affairs for any company director to be proud of?

The Brew Wales editor did attempt to contact Simon Buckley at the brewery, only to be told by someone at the plant in Llandeilo that he was out of contact as he was "On his annual Christmas shopping trip to New York"! 

Nice for some!

Update:
Simon Buckley banned as acting as a company director:
Case details for SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: SIMON BUCKLEY
Name: Welsh Estates Limited
Date of Birth: 1957-09-02 00:00:00.000
Date Order Starts: 2014-10-20 00:00:00.000
Disqualification Length: 3 Years 0 Month(s)
CRO Number: 05219412
Last Known Address: 2 Abbey Terrace, , , , Llandeilo, SA19 6BD
Conduct: (i) Mr Simon Buckley failed to ensure that Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) complied with its statutory obligations to HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) to file timely returns and make payments from at least 01 November 2007 to the date of liquidation on 26 January 2011. HMRC’s final Value Added Tax (“VAT”) claim at liquidation was £590,522. In particular: 

• VAT returns totalling £147,115 for 13 monthly periods from September 2007 to January 2008, March 2008 to August 2008 and November and December 2008, were not submitted until 2 and 3 April 2009. The oldest outstanding return for the period September 2007 was therefore filed 17 months late, with the earliest outstanding return for the period December 2008 filed 2 months late. HMRC were unaware of these liabilities until those dates, previously considered them to total £40,764 in central assessments.

 • According to HMRC's records no returns were submitted for the months January and February 2009, December 2009 and February 2010 to October 2010 leading to assessments of £325,810. • HMRC raised surcharges totalling £90,078 in respect of the late and non-filed returns of which £67,740 remains unpaid. • From 15 February 2008 to 07 October 2009 HMRC received payments from Welsh Estates totalling £115,750 in respect of VAT. Nothing was paid after 07 October 2009, although the company continued trading until October 2010, leading to estimated arrears before surcharges at liquidation of at least £354,162.

 • If all payments are set against the earliest VAT debt there is still £14,325 due for August 2008, payable in full by 30 September 2008.
 (ii) He caused Welsh Estates Limited (“Welsh Estates”) to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) from at least 01 January 2010 until cessation of trade on or around 31 October 2010 in respect of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) estimated at £156,031.

In particular:
 • On 31 December 2009 Welsh Estates had VAT arrears of £126,756. It subsequently incurred additional VAT liabilities of £156,031. The last payment made by Welsh Estates in respect of VAT was received on 07 October 2009. 

• Bank payments were made between 01 January 2010 and 31 October 2010 of £1,740,796 of which nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of VAT. • Company records show that trade creditors decreased by £256,171 from 01 January 2010 to 31 October 2010 whilst the outstanding VAT increased by £156,031 in the same period. 
This information is correct as at 2014-10-13 00:00:00.000

Buckley's. It Tastes Awful

Now before the writs start flying from a certain brewery on the Taff I have to point out that whereas Buckley's is a famous Welsh beer, now brewed in Cardiff, in Canada it is the brand name of the major cough syrup containing camphor, menthol, Canada balsam, capsicum and pine needle oil. Sounds inviting doesn't it? Still beer tickers have been known to drink worse in the UK.
What I really like though is the company logo of "It tastes awful". Now that's not something I would use to describe beer, at least not to the brewers I'm still on speaking terms with, but what a great line for a cough medicine. Reminisant of the "love it or hate it" campaign run by the by-product of the brewing industry, Marmite.
For more information and if you have a cough have a look at their website.

Of course to anyone in Wales, Buckley's was the famous Welsh brewery, formerely in Llanelli, part of the site of an Aldi supermarket now. The site of the old Rhymney brewery now houses a German supermarket as well. Is this a trend?

There is another Buckley's Brewery, this one in Australia, this is named after William Buckley (any relation to Simon?) who was an escaped convict (still any relation Simon?)

Buckley's Brewery Australia

Brewery seems to be doing well as they won an award for Best Dark Lager with their Dark Bock at a brewery showcase.

Smashing Time at a Swansea Brewery!

The VW that caused the accident, after being moved inside the brewery compound.

A kindly soul emailed Brew Wales these photos which give an insight into the business ethics of not only the public relations industry but also a member of a well-known Welsh brewing dynasty.
What happened on the day the new brewery in Llansamlet, Swansea, was opened by Rhodri Morgan could be construed as being amusing if something not quite legal occurred.
Things started to go down hill when the boss of the brewery started to heckle the Welsh Assembly Economic Development Manager during his speech to open the plant – the invited guests were cringing in their seats as the Managing Director raged into the funding policy of the Welsh Assembly. Now the brewery MD was reading from a pre-prepared crib sheet, supplied by his Public Relations firm, Ron Lewis Associates. By this stage, even the local TV stations had given up filming as none of this would be fit to broadcast. Well done Ron, your perfect PR opportunity ended up on the cutting room floor! Fair play to Rhodri – he gave the MD a good argument back.
Having allegedly imbibed of a few samples of wine and beer at the opening – Ron Lewis then attempted to drive his black Volkswagen 2-door back to Carmarthenshire but got all of a few yards from the brewery before crashing into another car - a mauve-coloured Lexus. The driver of the other car was luckily uninjured but seeing the “tired and emotional” Mr Lewis, the other driver went off to call the police.
Now here is where the story gets interesting. The black VW was pushed back into the brewery and the gates of the brewery were locked. Ron Lewis was bundled into another car along with the MD of the brewery and driven away from the scene before the local rozzers could turn up to breath test him. Now that would have made the TV news – a brewery opening and a shareholder (5,250 ordinary shares were held by Ron) crashing his car after allegedly over-imbibing in the lavish hospitality of the liquid type freely available at breweries.

The above photo shows the damaged Lexus and the tyre marks at the scene of the accident.

Damage to the Lexus after being hit by the VW

The brewery concerned went into liquidation in May 2002 owing £641,355 to the Government (IR & HMRC) as well as smaller amounts to 140 other creditors. Estimated total debts were over £2,300,000
The brewery currently flourishes under different ownership.
The Managing Director of the brewing company at the time of the opening and who is mentioned in the article above bears no connection to the website below:
www.simonbuckley.co.uk
Ron Lewis is currently running the public relations for the police in the form of the ITV Wales show “Crimestoppers”. So far no cold-case crimes have been broadcast covering anyone fleeing the scene of an accident or allegedly perverting the course of justice and there's little doubt if the “Swansea Smash” will be covered. So just enjoy the photos and fell free to use them for any purpose.

Considerate Parking Award

Pictured in Newport, by the railway station is this great example of parking by a Welsh brewery dray. Unable to park outside the John Wallace Linton pub, the genius here decided to park on the pedestrianised part of the crossing! Great, what a genius the drayman is, causing difficulty to anyone trying to access the train station. And it was not a quick drop off - the dray was there for around 20 minutes before our very own gendarmerie, ie Blunketts Bobbies, PCSOs finally got him to move a few feet into a loading area. Now, you may ask whose dray this is - turns out it's owner is Evan Evans Brewery who have no connection with the website below:
www.simonbuckley.co.uk

Gossip from the Welsh Brewers

News from the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers (AWIB) is that one of their members has been drummed out for alleging certain things in an obnoxious and potentially libelous email. Now I'm not going to name that person here but all I'm saying at the moment is that the person concerned has no conection with the website below:
www.simonbuckley.co.uk