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Jeremy Clarkson has been handed a warning over how difficult his new business venture may be.
The former Top Gear host turned farmer has confirmed his plans to start a new business, which he revealed cost him ‘less than £1million’.
The presenter and writer, 62, was forced to close his restaurant at Diddly Squat Farm following a battle with the local council, who denied his application to open a restaurant there in late 2021.
However, his light won’t be dimmed, and he now has plans to open his own pub.
The presenter reportedly paid ‘less than a million’ for a grand country establishment named ‘The Windmill’ in Burford, Oxfordshire – announced as ‘under new ownership’ on June 4.
But it won’t be an easy feat, TV chef Tom Kerridge has warned.
‘It’s very, very difficult operating a pub, even if it is busy and packed on a Saturday night, the profit margins are very, very small,’ he began.
Tom added that there’s particular danger for ‘drink-led pubs’, and went on to agree that perhaps Clarkson should cook in his new business.
He continued: ‘But then at the same point, that comes with particular problems because by the time you start investing in stuff, you need to be busy on a Monday and Tuesday lunchtime, not just a weekend.
‘The pressures that come into that business are absolutely huge.’
He added: ‘It’s going to be very difficult.’
However, Tom is nonetheless keen for Clarkson to be taking on the challenge.
He told GMB hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls: ‘I’m very pleased that Jeremy is taking that on because of what he did for British farming, he showed actually how difficult it was and how hard it was to make it work.
‘This would be another opportunity for us and the rest of the UK to see how difficult it is to run a pub because he will come up against the issues and the problems that there are, and obviously talk about it and use his voice for good reason.’
Clarkson confirmed his new venture in The Sunday Times, revealing the historic pub will include British pub grub such as gammon, egg and chips.
Sharing the negotiations that went down regarding the price of the establishment, Clarkson shared: ‘There are two ways the price negotiations go as well. They say they want a million. You offer them £17.50, and they either say “yes”, or they say “er, let me think, yes”.’
In the end, he paid ‘less than £1m’ for The Windmill venue, he confirmed to the publication.
While bar games are on the menu, noisy TVs, fruit machines and the kind of bathroom signs that might offend Clarkson fans’ delicate sensibilities will not be allowed.
Following a few false starts – Brexit-related staffing issues, ‘a loft full of dead rats’ and ‘illegal’ toilets – The Grand Tour host is almost ready for his grand opening.
With a wedding reception apparently booked in for ‘a couple of weeks’ time,’ the star hopes to stock the taps with his own beer – the Hawkstone lager brand he part owns and provides the hops for.
‘I just needed the pub where this could all happen. And then, after I’d looked [at] about 14,000, I found just the place,’ he wrote.
Bad news for local ‘dogging’ enthusiasts, though – as the opening of his new venture meant closing down the nearby site where the activity had been known to take place.
‘I went to see West Oxfordshire district council, expecting no help at all, and blow me down, it was very happy to close the dogging site. So I was in business,’ he explained.
However, friends are more sceptical about the pub’s success. ‘As one friend put it, “Owning a pub is more daft than owning a farm. What next, you buying a cinema?”‘ Clarkson revealed.
The TV personality has found all-new popularity since the launch of his hugely successful Amazon Prime series, which is soon to air its fourth series.
The humorous reality TV series sees Clarkson as he attempts to run his country farm in the Cotswolds, assisted by farm worker Kaleb Cooper and his girlfriend, Lisa Hogan.
Fans of the show can see Clarkson’s Farm at work in Chipping Norton, where it attracts visitors from around the globe – to the frequent chagrin of local people and councilmen alike.
Following being forced to close his restaurant, Clarkson appeared to find a loophole in the law that allowed him to open a ‘pizza cafe’ in 2022, but he was issued an enforcement order shortly after.
The council claimed that the disruption caused by parking, traffic and toilets would be ‘visually intrusive’ to the surrounding Cotswolds area.
Meanwhile, residents complained about the heavy disruption caused by fans flocking to see the site made famous by his Amazon Prime TV series Clarkson’s Farm.
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