Who's bought Ye Cracke? We've got a pretty good idea...

It’s a beautiful Friday evening and the garden at Ye Cracke is full to bursting. No better way to celebrate the oncoming weekend and the glorious spring weather than with a pint or three outside one of the best pubs in Liverpool. But the jolly mood out in the sun doesn’t extend inside behind the bar. 

After ordering, I ask my stonyfaced server, one of the longstanding barmaids, whether she knows who’s bought Ye Cracke, and whether staff will be kept on under the new ownership. The news of the sale, though not the identity of the buyer, had dropped a few days before. She just shakes her head. “No idea,” she says grimly. “We’ve been kept in the dark.” 

Ye Cracke’s current manager told the Echo earlier this month that six members of staff would be out of the job by April 27th. The pub is expected to close for an indefinite period of time, during which a refurbishment of unknown scale will take place – news that’s inspired a tornado of rumours online about who bought it and how much, exactly, they’re planning to change about this beloved Liverpool institution.