Owner of Britain's 'wonkiest' pub The Crooked House steps down as company boss

11 January 2024 , 09:54

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The blaze destroyed Crooked House in the summer (Image: BPM Media)

The owner of Britain's "wonkiest pub" - which was destroyed in an arson last year - has stepped down as the boss of the company which owned it.

Carly Taylor, 35, resigned from her position as director of ATE Farms Limited in December, four months after the fire ravaged the Crooked House, a popular pub near Dudley, West Midlands. Residents and former patrons were furious when the 18th Century pub, which had sloping walls and floor caused by mining subsidence, was demolished days later.

ATE Farms Limited bought the Crooked House just a fortnight before the fire, which Staffordshire Police have since treated as arson. At the time, it had been reported Mrs Taylor and her husband were to be questioned by officers in relation to the blaze.

Mrs Taylor, also a nail technician, is married to Adam, 45, who is shareholder and former director of Himley Environmental Ltd which runs a land fill site next to the pub. Mr Taylor has now replaced his wife as ATE Farms' sole director and person with significant control, Companies House records show.

Adam remains the sole boss at ATE Farms Limited after Carly Taylor resigned last month

At the time of the fire, the couple, of Lutterworth, Leicestershire, were said to enjoy regular foreign holidays. They were spotted sunning themselves in Corfu days after police spoke to them as part of its probe. Photographs shared on social media suggest the couple had been to Dubai prior to the fire. They posed outside the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in the United Arab Emirates.

Holiday family return to find everything they own - even cat - destroyed in fire

A relative told MailOnline Mrs Taylor used to run her own beauty business in Lutterworth but had since become used to "living the high life". The family member added: "She seems to go here there and everywhere, judging by Facebook."

Staffordshire Police has so far made six arrests in connection with the blaze, which it is treating as arson. The five men aged 23, 33, 44, 51 and 66, and a 34-year-old woman were arrested between August and October and remain on conditional bail. The police investigation is ongoing.

Bradley Jolly