Pub landlord beats bus strike by driving round town to pick up his regulars himself

• The Go North East bus strike began in October and is expected to continue

A pub landlord has beaten the bus strike by driving around town and picking p his regulars in his own car himself. 

Pub landlord Glen Sutherland, 68, took matters into his own hands when a bus strike left his boozer empty, costing him up to an eyewatering £4000 a week, after his regulars were stranded indoors. 

The Market Tavern, in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, took a colossal hit from the public transport industrial action, with the vast majority of the punters taking a bus in for a pint, before getting the bus back to go home. 

Mr Sutherland, who has had the pub for almost a decade, now travels to towns and villages in the city including Sacriston, Stanley and Lumley to collect his best punters, even if it does leave him out of pocket for petrol.

The strikes from Go North East – a bus company serving the north-east of England –  began at the end of October and wreaked chaos with local routes in the area.

Glen Sutherland, pub landlord of The Market Tavern, has been picking up his top punters who’ve been left stranded after a bus strike

The company opened a ballot for workers last week which will run until December 7, but it’s expected the action will continue.

It is understood staff will vote on extending their legal protections against dismissal for another three months.

Mr Sutherland said: ‘As soon as the strikes were announced I knew it was going to be bad for us.

‘There are four bus stops on the road outside my pub and a lot of our customers use them. 

‘Often they will get the bus and they will come here for a pint before they get on the bus to go home.

‘The business went down straight away and the place was really quiet.

‘I decided to start asking people if they wanted picked up in my own car which they were grateful for.

‘The regulars think I’m the best landlord since sliced bread.’ 

Mr Sutherland travels to towns and villages in the city to collect his regulars, even if it does leave him out of pocket for petrol

According to Mr Sutherland, who is keeping a keen ear to the ground, an agreement is being finalised to ensure a skeleton service is secured, but the dispute could still run until as far as April.

He added: ‘A lot of our regulars are older gents and some of them live in Chester-le-Street. They could walk down to the pub but they would struggle to walk back home.

‘I don’t do the pick-ups every day but I always ask them if they want a lift.

‘But it’s not just customers. We often had bus drivers who would come for a couple of pints at the end of their shift while they waited for a bus to take them back.

‘It’s the worst I’ve known things for business. We had to go through Covid but at least then we were given subsidiaries. With this we get no help.

The strikes from Go North East began at the end of October and wreaked chaos with local routes in the area

‘On a weekend we have had to cut staff down from three to one so we have had to make sacrifices.’

An update from Go North East last week read: ‘Due to the ongoing industrial action, we are unfortunately unable to provider a normal service.

‘We are running all school services, certain contacted services, and we are aiming to restore a skeleton service on as many routes as possible.

‘These duties are being covered by office workers and managers with bus driving licences, as well as regular drivers who have opted to return to work to keep essential service moving.

‘These services may be subject to delay due to reduced frequencies in operation – please be kind to our team providing them.

‘We apologise for the disruption during this time, and we remain committed to reaching a solution that will bring an end to the industrial action.’

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