Stories of sale of Star Inn, at Harome are “damaging and totally unfounded”

They say the stories are “damaging and totally unfounded”

and are threatening their business – the Michelin starred Star Inn, at Harome, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire.

Andrew and Jacquie Pern have run the multi-award winning pub for the past 14 years and recently announced they were splitting up after being married for the same length of time.

They believe this may have sparked the rumours they are selling up.

“We keep hearing that we are selling up to a celebrity chef. Sometimes it’s Gordon Ramsey and sometimes it’s James Martin,” said Mrs Pern.

“These rumours are totally unfounded and complete nonsense.

They are also very upsetting and damaging.

“We have put our heart and soul into the Star and we are not going to abandon it now.”

She said as a couple they had had an “amicable parting of the ways” but remained totally committed to working with each other.

“We have an excellent business relationship and we are hardly going to throw everything we have worked for away,” she said.

Mr Pern said: “My aim is to make the Star the first twostarred Michelin pub in the world and nothing will deflect me from that.”

The Perns also own the Corner Shop and the Pheasant Inn, in Harome, and Perns’ delicatessen, butchers and wine merchants, in Helmsley’s Market Place, together with the fishmongers, Star Fish, next door. They employ 120 people.

The couple have recently invested £750,000 in extending and upgrading the Star and also renovated and extended Perns and opened Star Fish.

Chef Mr Pern and The Star have won a string of awards, apart from the coveted Michelin star, since the couple took over the pub in 1996.

The awards include the Northern Hospitality Awards special achievement award last year, the No 1 UK Gastropub Chef and the Yorkshire Life Chef of the Year in 2008, the Egon Ronay Gastropub of the Year and Northern Chef of the Year in 2006, and the Good Food Guide Inn of the Year in 2005.