dunc_30 - spot on. Even a "professional landlord" has to start somewhere. Some get it right, some don't and of these some learn from the experience.

You could say exactly the same thing about shops - I find a good number nationally do not even approach what I would call good customer service. I do not propose converting them to another use on that basis.

Pubs are no different in that regard but where they are different is that they have a key cultural value that is in danger of being lost when it is so easy to convert them to other uses - just because they have been badly run once. Note that this is very often more to do with the pub management than the landlord per se - consider how small the margins in tied pubs are. I believe that this last point is most germane with regards to the Honor Oak.