A popular country pub is on the brink of closure after TripAdvisor deleted it from searches of Salisbury five miles away when it decided it was ‘too far away’.
Owners of The Hook and Glove, in Farley, Wiltshire, have complained that the 110-year-old ‘hidden gem’ has become ‘invisible to the masses’ visiting Salisbury.
Just over seven miles away from the historic cathedral city, the owners say the pub has a Salisbury postcode and pays business rates set by Salisbury City Council.
Despite this, TripAdvisor removed the country pub, which was saved from bankruptcy over six years ago, from its Salisbury listing. The pub owners have accused the travel website of appeasing a so-called ‘jobsworth official’.
Consistently ranked one of the top three restaurants from hundreds in the area, the pub has seen a 60 percent fall in business after being struck off the listing.
Owners of The Hook and Glove (pictured), in Farley, Wiltshire, have complained that the 110-year-old ‘hidden gem’ has become ‘invisible to the masses’ visiting Salisbury
Now landlady Fiona McKie has warned that she will have to close the pub after the summer and make 14 staff redundant if TripAdvisor does not budge.
Ms McKie, 68, who took over the failing pub six years ago and built it up again, said The Hook and Glove has seen poor business since Christmas.
She accused TripAdvisor of ‘pulling the rug out from underneath our feet’, and described their move as ‘devastating’.
The landlady said the pub has become ‘completely invisible’, adding: ‘We are in a tiny village that gets no passing traffic so being number one on the site was hugely important – it’s what we needed and what we worked six-and-a-half years for.
‘TripAdvisor wasn’t really on my horizon when I bought the pub and obviously it’s your customers that determine your position.
‘Over the last six years we clawed our way up from being number 260-something on the list to being ranked between one and three.
‘The site has become more and more important, especially to tourists.
‘If you are a tourist visiting Stonehenge, you don’t want to go to a chain pub or restaurant in Salisbury, you want to experience a local country pub.
‘People weren’t being duped into travelling out to us, they chose to drive to us and always commented on how beautiful the area is.’
Ms McKie, who bought the pub to ‘save it from the bulldozers’, had been planning to retire next month. Chef Pete Martin was due to take it over.
Landlady Fiona McKie said the pub has become ‘completely invisible’, adding: ‘We are in a tiny village that gets no passing traffic so being number one on the site was hugely important – it’s what we needed and what we worked six-and-a-half years for’ (pictured, TripAdvisor page)
TripAdvisor removed the country pub, which was staved from bankruptcy six years ago, from its Salisbury listing. Consistently ranked one of the top three restaurants from hundreds in the area, the pub has seen a 60 percent fall in business after being struck off the listing
But following the TripAdvisor row, he has decided it would not be a good time to embark on a new venture with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the pub.
Mr Martin said: ‘Apparently a “city official” informed TripAdvisor that Farley and two or three other villages were not part of Salisbury. TripAdvisor then removed The Hook and Glove and several other pubs from the main Salisbury list.’
A spokesperson for TripAdvisor told MailOnline that The Hook and Glove, formerly listed in Farley, was ‘incorrectly listed as located in Salisbury’ between June and September 2019 when it conducted a review.
They use ‘official boundary information from city officials to determine where a business is listed’, and received a green light from Salisbury City Council.
‘Our policy is to place a listing in the most specific destination possible, therefore in September 2019 the business was moved from Salisbury to Farley, which according to Salisbury City is not part of Salisbury,’ the spokesperson added.
‘It’s also useful to note that TripAdvisor users can expand their search of Salisbury restaurants to include nearby restaurants. When doing this, the Hook and Glove is currently ranked number 112 out of 159 restaurants in the Salisbury area.’
MailOnline has approached Salisbury City Council for comment.