In brief: Randalls has announced it will not renew the leases on the Priory Inn at Devil’s Hole and the Mont Felard in St Lawrence when they expire in June 2027. The two pubs are among only a handful serving their respective parishes, raising concerns about the future of community local life in St Mary and St Lawrence.
Last orders at two parish pubs
Randalls, one of Jersey’s most prominent hospitality operators with an estate of around 20 venues across the island, has confirmed it intends to give up the leases on two well-known pubs next year. The Priory Inn at Devil’s Hole in St Mary and the Mont Felard in St Lawrence will both see their leases expire in June 2027, and Randalls has indicated it will not be renewing either, the Jersey Evening Post reports.
The company has held long-term leases on both sites for more than 20 years, making this a significant shift in its strategy. Rather than spreading its resources thinly, Randalls appears to be consolidating around its stronger performers, including the Boat House and Tenby in St Aubin, the Goose at Beaumont, and a cluster of St Helier venues: Chambers, the Mulcaster and the Oche Club.
What happens to the buildings?
Both sites are owned by commercial property business Le Masurier, which has confirmed Randalls’ intention to vacate. According to the Jersey Evening Post, Le Masurier is expected to market the venues to other operators in the hospitality sector, though the company may also consider redeveloping or selling the sites outright.
That last possibility will raise eyebrows among locals. The Priory Inn and the Mont Felard are currently among only two pubs each serving their respective parishes of St Mary and St Lawrence. Lose one to residential conversion or some other use, and a parish already light on social infrastructure loses something that is genuinely difficult to replace. A pub is not merely a place to drink; it is often the only neutral communal space a rural parish has, the kind of venue where a farmer, a plumber and a retired teacher can sit at the same bar and argue about the same things.
A wider trend in Jersey hospitality
The news reflects pressures that have been building across Jersey’s pub and hospitality sector for some time. Rising costs, changing drinking habits and the challenge of making rural venues commercially viable have all played a part in reshaping the island’s licensed trade. Operators increasingly find it easier to run a tight portfolio of busy, well-located venues than to maintain outlying sites that depend heavily on seasonal trade and passing tourism.
For Randalls, the logic is straightforward: focus on what works. For the parishes of St Mary and St Lawrence, the calculus is rather different. Whether another operator steps in, or whether Le Masurier opts for a more profitable alternative use, will determine whether these pubs survive in any recognisable form beyond 2027.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
