Ridge & Furrow Inns, the pub group headed by former Ever So Sensible Group operations and marketing director Scott Whittaker, has taken a second pub with Star Pubs & Bars.
A joint £385,000 investment is being made to transform the Lambley Inn, a restaurant in Nottinghamshire, into a pub, the Lambley Village Kitchen, which will open in July.
The country pub will see its smaller rooms opened up to create a “bright and airy interior with an eclectic contemporary farmhouse atmosphere”.
There will be two dining rooms with130 covers in total, a new central bar as well as a locals’ bar and a gallery kitchen. Funds will also be spent upgrading the large garden and patio areas.
Ridge & Furrow Inns also operates another Star Pubs & Bars lease, the Wilford Green Pub & Kitchen in Nottingham, which has grown 320% since Whittaker took it on two years ago. In the last year, a year after it re-opened, the pub achieved 20% like-for-like sales growth.
Whittaker said: “Our partnership with Star Pubs & Bars works very well. I wouldn’t be able to afford to do what I am doing with Ridge & Furrow Inns without the finance they provide and the rest of the support is good too.
“We intend to create a pub with a reputation for great cask ale, excellent drinks and fantastic fresh, locally sourced, good value food. To celebrate the opening I’ve produced a special 180 page recipe book of dishes served at the pub which will be on display in the pub and available for customers to buy via Amazon.
“We’ve already got website which is attracting 40 new visitors every day and feedback via twitter has been fantastic. I’ve only been tweeting about the pub for two weeks and already have 600 followers who are hugely positive about our plans.”
Chris Jowsey, trading director of Star Pubs & Bars, said: “We’re delighted to be undertaking this joint investment with Scott, breathing life into a site which has closed for many months and helping to create a stunning pub for the community at large.”
