The Leopard's Owner Speaks for the First Time
"It made me feel sick to my stomach." Danny Singh speaks out after fire destroyed historic Burslem pub.
The owner of a historic Stoke-on-Trent pub that was destroyed by fire says he felt ‘sick to his stomach’ when he heard about the blaze. Despite the damage, property developer Danny Singh says he is still committed to The Leopard after falling in love with the Burslem pub.
A planning application was submitted to Stoke-on-Trent City Council in June this year which sets out a proposal to transform the Grade II-listed pub, where Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley had famously met to discuss the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal, into shops and 17 assisted living flats.
But Manchester-based Danny told The Knot that he feels the pace of decision-making at the city council is ‘holding Stoke-on-Trent back’ - and he believes the landmark pub, which was in operation for almost 300 years, would still be standing if the planning process had been quicker.
In his first interview with the media in Stoke-on-Trent, Danny recalled how he and his wife, Jeet Singh, bought The Leopard, which closed permanently in the first Covid lockdown, in a closed auction through estate agent Fleurets.
The 46-year-old, who bought the pub through the couple’s business Daneets Investments, said: “Our expertise lies in regenerating historic and old dilapidated buildings. We’ve done numerous pubs, including a fantastic project over in Blackpool with a former miners’ social club, which was a similar story to The Leopard.
“That was the attraction. We went to view it and fell in love with the character and history. We were over the moon when we secured the property.”
Soon after they purchased the Market Place pub in January 2021, they held a meeting with members of the Our Burslem community group and the then MP Jonathan Gullis, where they outlined their plans. At that time they intended to reopen the pub and convert the rear hotel area into ‘high quality apartments for professionals’.
They engaged architects and consultants and submitted a pre-application to the city council ‘two or three months’ later. But Danny says the city council took ‘about seven months’ to respond to their submission, compared to the ‘eight to 12 weeks’ they were used to in Manchester, which meant that The Leopard was standing empty.
While they were waiting to move on with their plans, the couple refused an approach by paranormal investigators to run more ghost tours in the building, which had previously featured on popular TV series Most Haunted, because they ‘didn’t really want the building - and the lovely, attractive apartments [they] were planning - to be linked again with paranormal activity’.
Instead they agreed to a short-term month-by-month lease with a company who wanted to use the basement area for storage.
However, on 17 January, 2022, they received a call from the police to say a cannabis farm had been found in the building. Two men were later jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty to the cultivation of cannabis.
After the police gave them the keys back, Danny says he and Jeet arranged for a joinery company to board the ground floor, entrances and exits to secure the property.
But just a few days later, on January 22 - exactly a year after buying the pub - Danny received another call from the police saying the building was on fire.
“I felt sick to my stomach and my wife was very emotional,” he said. “We jumped in the car and drove straight down to Stoke. When we got there there were five or six fire engines there and it was a terrible sight.”
The devastating blaze ripped through the building and dozens of firefighters battled to extinguish the flames - but the roof, inner walls and staircases collapsed, leaving it a burnt-out shell.
By the time it reached the historic frontage the fire had been brought under control - and the painted leopard sign was able to be saved, although the paintings and murals that had adorned the interior were all destroyed.
While the building had to be left open to the elements because it was too dangerous to put up scaffolding - and surveys had to be done by drone - structural scaffolding was put in place to hold up the frontage. “We understood that safety was paramount,” said Danny, “but it was a massive unexpected cost.”
Staffordshire Police arrested four Stoke-on-Trent men on suspicion of arson and burglary in the aftermath of the fire, but they were later released without charge. Due to safety concerns, police and fire investigators were never allowed access to the ruined building to gather evidence, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.
As a result, his insurance policy would not pay out, Danny told The Knot. “We didn’t get a single penny from our insurers,” he said. “This is why it has been dragging on for so long. It’s very frustrating and it’s crippling our company. We’ve done multiple properties and this has taught us a big lesson.”
A few months after the blaze, Danny and Jeet ‘re-opened [their] discussions’ with the council about planning permission. Even though the fire had made them change their plans from conversion to a re-build, he says they were still ‘committed’ to The Leopard and ‘wanted to get the building back into use’.
“The council were receptive and we have had positive dealings with them,” he said. “The problem we are facing is that the council is under-resourced, and everything is so slow. I don’t blame the planning officer and other hardworking staff who are dealing with it. The problem is with the broader council.
“They’re so under-staffed due to the city’s financial challenges that they can’t handle the volume of applications - and Stoke-on-Trent is suffering as a city because of this.”
The planning application was finally submitted to the city council in June this year, with a decision expected to be made later this year. It sets out a proposal to convert the ground floor and part of the basement in the pub area at the front of the building to shops, with the former hotel at the rear set to be demolished and rebuilt as 17 assisted living flats.
The planning application states: “The aim of the proposal indicated by the client is to bring back the use of the property through adequate repairing and change of use. As fire has led to the partial collapse of the property, the goal is to restore its use through the accommodation that it provides, while maintaining its heritage importance.”
At the time of writing, four residents have submitted objections and called for the building to be reinstated as a pub. The Potteries Heritage Society, while ‘welcom[ing] this proposal to restore The Leopard and bring it back into full use’, wrote that they felt, ‘opportunities have been missed to do this historic building justice’.
Danny said he understands the strength of feeling of many residents towards The Leopard, which even led one member of the local community to send a ‘horrible, threatening letter’ last year, which he says was dealt with by the police.
“The Leopard has been there almost 300 years and we do understand that people have an emotional connection with it,” Danny said. “We read the comments online, and there have been a lot of negative comments and racial remarks.
“We’ve spoken to local residents and some are at the end of their tether and just want it brought back into use. Some people are a bit sceptical and don’t believe that apartments are going to work, but generally seem to think it’s better than an HMO.
“We think it would be very difficult to keep it open as a public house. We’ve had many, many conversations with the council and have done our research, including speaking to other operators.
“Pubs are struggling up and down the country due to the cost of living and because drinking habits have changed. The Leopard had been losing money hand over fist for four or five years before it closed and we need things to be financially viable.”
For now Danny is awaiting the outcome of the planning application. But his experience of the planning process has made him more cautious about future investments in Stoke-on-Trent, which he’d hoped to make after completing The Leopard project.
He said: “When I look at Stoke-on-Trent, I get excited. There are stunning architectural buildings like the Queen’s Theatre and the Wedgwood Institute that are just gorgeous. We thought we would move on to bigger and better things in Stoke after The Leopard but we’ll have to wait and see.
“If we had had the support in the planning straightaway after we bought it it would still be standing. It wouldn’t have been standing empty and would have been fully operational by now. It makes me feel sick as a parrot.”
Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing and planning at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, acknowledged that the planning process can ‘appear to move slower than both applicants and officers would like’ but told The Knot that it was dependent on the applicant supplying ‘mandatory supporting information’.
He said: “We’ve provided the owner of the building with a great deal of support over the last two years which has resulted in a planning application being submitted. The application will now be formally assessed through our usual planning processes.
“We understand that residents and the local community are keen to see this building brought back into use and recognise that the national planning process can move slower than both applicants and officers would like, but this is largely due to the need for mandatory supporting information that must be supplied by applicants at the time of submission. We have an obligation to ensure we only validate planning applications which are compliant with the relevant regulations and legislative frameworks.
“The Local Planning Authority operates a pre-application advice service prior to the submission of applications. This service ensures that applicants are aware of the scope of documents that must be submitted at the outset and can highlight any areas of concern, which helps to streamline the planning process.”
Danny urged the city council and local residents to get behind outside investors to help Stoke-on-Trent back onto its feet.
He said: “To build up your town you need to welcome outside investment with open arms. If Stoke-on-Trent is being difficult the investors will go elsewhere.
“I’m more than happy to work with the community. If someone comes to me with a great idea for a business I would love to hear about it. But they can’t keep banging on saying they want it to be a pub because it wasn’t a viable business.
“It’s not what people want to hear - it’s human nature to dislike change, but we have to be willing to accept it, otherwise you get left behind.
“If people want to live there unchanged for the next 50 years then fine, but if they want to move on and bring the towns into the 21st century, they need to be supportive.”
By Hannah Hiles
Our paid members fund journalism and stories like this. Please considering upgrading for £5 a month or £50 a year.
 | A guest post by
|
An interesting, well written and researched, article highlighting the problems in planning that investors in our city experience, how that deters new development and is a contributing factor in the decline of our heritage.
This is what a local newspaper should be doing but I'm thankful that The Knot has taken this role on.
Poor bloke.
Hasn’t got his insurance money.
My heart bleeds.