Worthing: Retiring landlord puts Hare and Hounds up for sale

Peter Wilson has been running the Hare and Hounds in Worthing for almost 17 years but says the time is now right for him to hand over the reins to someone new.

Mr Wilson took over the pub, which has a courtyard and four-bedroom accommodation, with his late business partner and friend Mike Shiel in 2007.

Since then the establishment has grown to become well known for its range of cask ales and home-cooked food.

The town centre pub’s lease has been listed by Sidney Phillips with an asking price of £75,000.

“I’m old,” said Mr Wilson, 64. “I’m 65 next month and it’s time for me to go.

“I can afford to retire so I’m going to.”

The Grade II listed property, which is made up of two, three-storey mid-terrace properties in Portland Road, has been a pub since 1814 and prior to that was two fishermen’s cottages.

The Hare and Hounds in Worthing (Image: The Argus)

“It’s survived everything,” said Mr Wilson.

“We are a traditional pub. “We serve a lot of food.

“Weekly live jazz is very popular. We sell a lot of real ale. And we’ve got good staff here.

“We’re a country pub in town.”

The father-of-two says he does not know what it will be like leaving the pub after almost two decades at its helm.

“It will be different because it takes over your whole life,” he said.

“I want to play a little more golf. Have more leisure time and go on a few holidays.”

Mr Wilson said the successful pub has lots of potential.

“It would suit an experienced operator,” he said. “But, saying that, when I first came here, I wasn’t an experienced operator.

“I’d worked in pubs before, but I learned my way through it.

“We have a lot of regular customers who we see week and week out and we’re known for our home-cooked food.

“For someone new coming in if they can get a grip of the social media and advertising side of it then they could take the pub to the next level and make it even more successful.”