Enterprise Inns’ Community Heroes Award winner, Victoria McDonald, has taken on her second pub with the company.
McDonald has overseen a full refurbishment of the White Lodge, Attleborough with a £260,000 investment from Enterprise and a £50,000 injection from Victoria and her husband Grahame.
McDonald, who also runs Enterprise’s Cellar House, at Eaton, near Norwich, won the annual Enterprise Community Heroes Awards in 2015, which celebrates the vital role publicans and their pubs play in enhancing the lives of local people.
She received £6,000 to spend on future community projects after being chosen from a record 426 entries for her work to make The Cellar House the ‘hub of the community’. She has since opened a post office in the pub.
She said: “Grahame and I are really excited about running The White Lodge, and looking forward to meeting the high expectations local people will have of what has been – and will be again – a hugely popular pub.
“Taking it on means we now have two pubs with Enterprise. The team there have been very supportive of us and what we want to achieve and their significant investment to revive the pub has been fantastic. I want the pub to be famous for cask ales, home-cooked food, and its family-friendly beer garden.
Enterprise regional manager Adam Cogan said: “There has been huge local interest in the The White Lodge’s reopening and we’re now there after completing a mammoth refit in just six weeks!
“Old and new customers can expect to see major improvements inside and out, including a new kitchen, bars, flooring, and a patio area at the rear. As well as re-thatching the roof, we’ve also had the building re-wired.
“I’m sure Victoria and Grahame will make a success of this landmark local pub, and make it as popular as it used to be.”
McDonald will be one of the speakers at MCA’s Tenanted Pub Company Summit on 9 November in Birmingham. For more information, please contact sophie.barber@mca-insight.com
