Landlord Andrew Hields revealing the staggering annual cost of running The Tan Hill Inn in its remote off-grid location
Owner Andrew Hields at The Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales(Image: Samuel Port)
The proprietor of Britain’s loftiest drinking establishment has revealed it now costs “£100,000 a year now to keep the lights on”. The Tan Hill Inn stands as a historic 17th-century public house and lodging facility perched 1,732 feet above sea level in Richmond within the Yorkshire Dales.
The closest settlement, Kirkby Stephen, lies 11 miles distant and can only be reached via winding, narrow country lanes that snake across the moorland, leaving it entirely off the electrical grid. No power lines or utility pipes connect the establishment to any external infrastructure. The venue must depend entirely upon its own generator and independent water systems.
Andrew Hields, aged 40, has been the proprietor of this remote hostelry, notorious for becoming snowbound for days during winter months, for over seven years since taking ownership in June 2018. The father of two embraced the isolated pub as he viewed it as a formidable test that would utilise all of his commercial expertise.
Despite never having operated a public house previously, he possessed experience across various enterprises spanning renewable energy and marketing sectors. He has also assumed control of The Green Dragon Inn in Hardraw, renowned for its proximity to Britain’s tallest waterfall, reports Yorkshire Live.
Andrew explained: “This place pulled on all of my past experiences and skill sets and required me to learn fast as well. The challenging issues of staffing up here, the logistics of it all. It’s £100,000 a year now to keep the lights on. That would cripple most other pubs but luckily a thousand people a week are coming through the doors which helps.”
Owner Andrew Hields and manageress El Applegarth at The Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales(Image: Samuel Port)
They boast six staff quarters alongside the 11 guest accommodations. Most employees will remain on-site for either three or four evenings each week.
For those team members without transport, colleagues will either share lifts or receive assistance getting to the establishment from the local pub. There are proposals to introduce a minibus service to facilitate staff transport.
This live-in arrangement has developed organically over the years, with workers originally residing on the premises permanently. Andrew has discovered the part-time residential setup to be “more sustainable” as it remains “always intense, and very busy”.
Across both establishments under his ownership, they occasionally employ approximately 50 team members during peak season.
The venue’s manager El Applegarth, 26, also discussed the accommodation arrangements, revealing how the team feels like one extended “family”. El travels from Newcastle, alternating between Tan Hill and the Green Dragon during her working periods away from home.
El explained: “We’re like a family. It’s a bit like a uni house, sometimes. I’d never been to uni but it’s that kind of experience. We’ll have a drink on a night-time, and you will get up in the morning, chat, and get to know each other as friends. It does get on top of each other, sometimes, but not as much as what you would think.”
El has successfully incorporated her actual family into the operation. Her father John first introduced her to the establishment before she began her employment there two years prior.
Subsequently, she’s recruited her mother Alex as a team member, whilst John will be donning the Santa Claus outfit at the venue this year, alongside her younger sibling who assists with various tasks.
Discussing the pub’s ambience, El remarked: “It’s magical, really. It really is. People talk. It’s a bit like going back in time. People actually talk to each other as they know they’re going to be stuck together. It’s not like there’s a few pubs around where you’ll go ‘I’ll see you at the next one’. It brings a lot of people together.”
Away from the public eye, the work constitutes a distinctly “tough business” according to Andrew, who shared his wisdom on operating such an isolated venue. Andrew explained: “Market. Market heavily and well. I say that especially as we’ve got no footfall. We’re not in a city, we’re not near another tourist attraction.
“You have to treat the customer and the staff well, and never take advantage of a customer, at all. Try and give the best experience that represents your kind of offering that you want people to experience. Don’t try to be anybody else.
“Every pub has got its own quirk, which is usually represented by the owners, as well. We try to amplify what the Tan Hill is when you come here, whether it’s the weather or the atmosphere inside or whatever’s going on outside. It’s got to be a labour of love because they’re tough businesses to run, especially nowadays. It’s a three, six, five job, there’s not much down time. We’ve got an amazing team, here. It’s run on passion, that’s the fuel.”
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