Hockley Greene King pub update on cash payments ban

In the summer, the Bull Inn, in Main Road, Hockley, moved to card and contactless payments only as part of a trial launched by owners Greene King.

At the time it sparked anger from residents who feared the decision to end cash payments would exclude older residents and pub regulars who use cash and don't want to make the move to card payments.

A spokesperson for Greene King said: “We recently undertook a cashless payment trial in a small number of our pubs, where around 90 per cent of customer spend is made via card payment.

“The trial has now ended, and whilst card payments are preferred - which allows our teams to spend more time with our guests - cash payments will continue to be accepted where required."

Residents have expressed relief over the decision to revert to the original system, with the decision being “exclusionary” and “displaying a lack of knowledge of the local community.”

Hockley councillor Adrian Eves said: “It is exclusionary, and it displays a lack of knowledge of their local customer base, and I believe they lost a lot of their day customers because they all kept using cash,” adding that most day customers at The Bulls Inn were elderly and more likely to use cash.

“I don’t think there is a case where they can get rid of cash, the decision isn’t from local, it was from the top, you can’t argue, there were no discussions to be had about it and the local team didn’t seem to believe it worked, they were ignored,” Mr Eves said.

Mr Eves added that he was glad that the trial had concluded, and residents could return to The Bulls Inn with the ability to pay however they wished, once again stressing that staff and managers were not at fault for the decision that was made or the anger of residents.

The Greene King cashless trial sparked debate across the country back in May, with the company beginning a slow roll out across numerous pubs. Greene King continuously stressed it was only a trial and no final decision had been made.