- Dino Johnson, 58, bought his local pub The Captain Howey in New Romney, Kent
A businessman who bought his local village pub to prevent housing being built in it says he can’t wait to ‘bring it back to life’.
Dino Johnson bought The Captain Howey in New Romney, Kent, after discovering that housing developers wanted to turn it into apartments.
The 58-year-old owner of the neighboring Littlestone Hotel heard about the plan for the village pub after a London-based company interested in buying it asked him if he would be willing to sell his hotel to them too.
But Mr Johnson turned them down and instead made his own offer for the pub when it was up for sale, saying letting go of the property would be a ‘disaster’.
Mr Johnson will run the pub – which has nine guest rooms – alongside his hotel with 16 en suite rooms.
Dino Johnson, 58, bought his local village pub to prevent residential conversions
Mr Johnson will run the pub – which has nine guest rooms – next to his hotel
The hotel owner said the London company only wanted to buy the pub if they could also buy his hotel, but he turned them down because he didn’t want to be tied to a ‘building site’ next door.
He kept an eye on things and took the opportunity to make an offer when The Captain Howey went up for sale in June.
With no other potential buyers interested in taking over as a pub, his offer was accepted and he set about renovating it.
Mr Johnson, who is also a school principal, said: “The pub has been quieter in recent months and the property was leasehold.
‘The lease expired at the end of the year and he decided to terminate it early.
‘This London company wanted both plots, but the idea of having a building site next to us for three or four years did not appeal.
‘I can’t wait to bring it back to life.
‘All the neighbors come by and say the look has changed, it’s tidy, it’s fresh.
“We have a small army of people working to upgrade it.
‘It has nine en suite bedrooms which we can easily manage as it is next door and we are negotiating with a catering company to look after the restaurant and pub.
‘There will be a new design and a new appearance in the pub.
‘We also have a lot of input from the local population, to keep everyone happy.’
Dino took over the Littlestone Hotel in 2003 and he said the opportunity to own both properties is “very positive” and that letting them go would have been a “disaster” for tourism.
He added: “It feels incredible to now have both.
‘It is very nice to have the opportunity to live next door, very positive.
‘The community here is very important.
‘Many people from all over the country and the world come here to Romney Hythe and Dymchurch train station and staying at the Howey is part of that experience, so letting it go would have been a disaster.’