Wales: Ty Gwyn

Llanfairpwll, Anglesey

It's a long road to Anglesey in North Wales especially if you have travelled from Burnley via Majorca, the Isle of Man, Skegness, Louth and Ibiza to get there. Yet that was the unusual route taken by the Keene family in their quest to find the perfect pub and start life in the licensed trade.

This cosmopolitan selection of towns and islands were all locations of pubs and bars the Keenes considered before settling for life in a village famous for boasting the longest place name in Europe.

David Keene explains: "It took us quite a time to find a suitable freehouse because there was simply so few of them on the market and we found ourselves being outbid by the pubcos. We were seriously considering the Balearics as an alternative and came very near to buying a bar in Ibiza before the Ty Gwyn came up for grabs."

Sixteen months after arriving in North Wales, the Keenes have not regretted the decision to turn their backs on the Spanish sunshine in favour of a colder and more northerly tourist spot.

Indeed, their new career could not have got off to a better start in a village that has quickly accepted them.

David reports: "We knew we might have problems winning the villagers over because we were a complete unknown quantity to them. It could have been difficult for an English family being accepted in a tightly-knit Welsh community, but we got a remarkably warm welcome, especially when the villagers realised we intended to get fully involved."

The family had run a convenience store in Burnley for several years. All seven of them, with ages ranging from 22 to 58, took a collective decision to buy their own pub. The Ty Gwyn has prospered under their stewardship, with a 25% increase in beer sales and extra food income during their first year of business.

Apart from the lounge bar and conservatory restaurant, the pub has a cellar sports bar with big screen TV. The pub now sponsors the village football team and gets involved in most community activities going on in the village. David remarks: "After only one month here, the locals told us it was as if we had always been at the Ty Gwyn and that is the biggest compliment we could get."