Fanny by Gaslight, based in Kilmarnock, closed down in 2024 and was put on the market by building owners Iona Pub Partnership before being taken over by new tenants and opening again on July 18, 2025.
However, the boozer, which has been a public house since 1846 and has gone by names including Railway Tavern, The Saddle Bar and Fifty Waistcoats, has now announced that it will close once again.
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Taking to Facebook to announce the news, the pub cited a number of reasons for the shock closure which included never being able to find a permanent, full-time team and issues with Iona Pub Partnership.
The team behind the pub explained further, saying: “As you all know we this week had to make the decision to hand back the keys to the landlord.. This was due to a number of reasons.
“Main one being the building was due a major overhaul of repairs and there was plans in place to do this. The building owners (Iona Pub Group) decided they would rather list the building for sale instead of investing. They did give us the option to continue but with the really poor quality in the way that they operate we kindly declined to go any further with a property that could be sold at any time. We had endless issues receiving orders due to landlord input and this began to affect other areas of our business.
“Another major factor was finding a team that was everything that the place deserved. We never found a permanent team that would be able to take Fanny By Gaslight where it needed to go. It needed hard commitment.
“Our part time members of staff were fantastic but we needed full time members and it was impossible to find a strong person to make it what it needed to be so we never managed to get to where we needed to be.
“We could go on but what is the point. We tried and were happy enough with that. Unfortunately for us it wasn’t meant to be and we wish whoever takes on the sale of the building that they do well and be a success.”
The team went on to thank customers for their support since re-opening.
They said: “Thanks to all you for supporting the re-open and we apologise that not all experiences were up to the standards that are minimally expected. Thank you all again for supporting us we know there will be the usual suspects with the negative comments but we are happy to say we have given it a go and it just hasn’t worked out the way we planned.
“We have fought for the past three weeks to keep going but when the sale idea came into play we decided enough was enough.”
Iona Pub Partnership is listing Fanny By Gaslight for rent on its website at a price of £32,061 per month.
You can view the full listing HERE
Iona Pub Partnership has been contacted for comment.
