Coronation Street landlady Bev Callard has seen her real-life pub and bar business BJ Leisure placed in administration with debts of more than £218,000.
Callard, who plays Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald, told the News of the World yesterday that BJ Leisure had defaulted on bank payments for the £32,000 tenancy of the White Horse in Eccles, Manchester, as well as the £60,000 lease at the Gallery bar in Hale, Cheshire.
She revealed that BJ Leisure, the business she ran with long-term partner Jon McEwan, had entered administration in March and has county court judgements from creditors totalling £30,823.
She had to lay off five members of staff, including bar manager Nick Cochrane who played her on-screen son Andy, as well as sell her six-bed home to keep the business trading.
Callard said; “If only running a real pub was half as easy as it looks on Coronation Street.
“The way we run the Rovers on telly is in the realms of make-believe. If it was in the real world it would have shut down years ago.”
She conceded that the company had made mistakes in pitching its offer too high, putting expensive food and wine on the menu, but she also attacked Prime Minister Gordon Brown for doing nothing to make life easier for struggling licensees.
Although the White Horse is in administration the Gallery remains trading.
Read the full News of the World story here >>
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By Christopher Walton
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