Birth of a Pub

Our new pub is born and it's called the WHITE HART HOTEL, and here is a picture of some of our fabulous staff who are going to run it and look after all the hungry and thirsty customers......!! Don't they look great in their 'sunflower' shirts (just a little bit brighter than they looked in the catalogue - but hey, at least customers will be able to see them!) As you can see, they are quite a young team - but full of energy and with a huge will to make the business succeed.

It's been a very stressful couple of weeks - with me wailing several times ' I'm never f'ing well doing this again'......, with neither Tim or myself having more than 6 hours sleep a night for a couple of weeks - and eating either very little, on the run or gorging on cakes and pastry from local bakers..... But there's no doubt, the whole experience is a lot like having a baby!

You enjoy the news you're having a baby (i.e, another pub), it's tiring leading up to the birth (pub opening), the birth (pub opening) and the first few days after delivery (pub opening) are both exciting and terrifying in equal measures, and then in an instant (well, almost) you forget all the pain and trauma and enjoy the experience!!

I quite enjoyed pounding the streets of Modbury talking to people about our new pub - and I have so much more sympathy for the postmen with the number of times I got my fingers jammed in letterboxes while trying to post flyers!

Anyway, all of the St Austell building team, designers, planners, cellar services etc etc ALL deserve a huge pat on the back for getting us ready to open - in just under 8 days they took a huge, empty soulless shell of a pub and put doors into walls, built from scratch really beautiful wood panelled settles and window seating, wood panels all round the bar area, opened up a fire place, decorated the entire ground floor, put new beer lines into the building and cellar.

The dray men had to bring in every single barrel and bottle needed to open a fully functioning bar (Lord - I hate to think of our first brewery bill!) as well as glasses, pictures and then take away all the remaining old and furniture back to the brewery. So - to Friday night - our opening night, a blooming marvelous start, with well over a 100 people turning up - some even waiting for the doors to open, and they just kept coming...... it was a great turn out, far better I think than either of us was expecting! Lots and lots of mainly local people, a prospective MP, Master of the Hunt, clergy, tourist information centre - many local business people with ideas on how to work together and make Modbury a bit more of a thriving prosperous small town. Lots of food for thought.....

Talking of food, Saturday was our first day of serving food..... mmmn, just a little bit fraught as equipment broke down, fuses blew, things that we'd not remembered became important; like vinegar pots, some cooking implements, knowing how to turn on the char grill etc etc etc..... not a great lunch service - a few tears and a few short tempers all made for a lunchtime to be forgotten, but the evening service was a hundred times better - compliments abounded on the food and where there was criticism it was constructive and changes made. Staff remembered their customer service training - made conversation and TALKED to customers - that's a rarity in a lot of pubs these days - and both staff and customers seemed to enjoy the new look White Hart Hotel.

So, onto the next phase - getting the function room back to looking gorgeous and ready for use. Its actually called the 'Assembly Rooms' and it's a massive light and airy room with beautiful brass chandeliers (real brass - not tin!), not too much to do there actually. I so want to get that marketed and used for functions both by the local community and the wider area - I'm even toying with the idea of getting it licensed for weddings as the nearest Registry Office is miles away.......???

Next, it's getting the website built and up and running - in hand, just needs me chasing it along next week. Oh yes, and chase BT, and an electrical appliance company, and staff for proper wage details, and on and on and on.......... Good fun though!!