Nice pub in Bradford

April

A regular internet search throws up a rather nice, & cheap, looking pub in Bradford-On-Avon. The rent is reasonable & most importantly there is not brewery tie - brewery's really shaft pubs with a combo of high rent & a tie on anything from all draught to everything wet. If you're reading this & thinking about opening your own place a word of advice - stay away from brewery tied pubs!

I call Dave & we decide to go & have a gander. As a bit of background myself, Dave & a guy called Jake own a neighbourhood cafe/bar company based in Bristol called Loungers. We own 5 cafe/bar's in suburban Bristol - Lounge, Tinto Lounge, Porto Lounge, Deco Lounge, & Banco Lounge & we've been casting an interested eye towards BOA for a while.

I contact the agent & one Saturday morning myself & Dave jump in his van & drive over to have a look. The outside looked lovely from the (very small) photo on the particulars & oddly there are no internal shots. We conclude before we get there that the lack of internal shots & the cheap premium being sought are probably linked.

On entering our suspicions are confirmed; to say it was a bit untidy & a bit tired. Despite the poor internal repair we like it - it's got a nice aspect & a cosy feel. We wander round checking out the bogs, the 'office' & the very scary kitchen whilst chatting with the landlord.

Upstairs there are letting bedrooms & a managers flat, again in need of some TLC, but all of the rooms have good proportions to them.

On enquiring about a large rectangular hole in the ceiling of one the rooms it becomes apparent that there is another room on the second floor. This used to be accessed via a spiral staircase, which we are informed was stolen. Interesting!

We drive back to Bristol & chat about it - there's a lot of potential & consequently a lot of work. We speculate about how much stone masons costs, whether the lack of parking is going to be a problem, & whether with everything else we've got going on (we're currently working on a another café/bar in Bristol as well as a major restaurant/bar project in Bristol)we got the stomach for what is going to be a big job.

We decide that Jake should see it & I give him a call.