Becky's diary: week two
Development of David and Becky Salisbury's new pub, the Old Queen's Head at Penn, Buckinghamshire, continues apace in Becky's latest despatch from the frontline.
Week 2: Four weeks to openingCigarettes: who's counting?
Another long week beckons, made worse with the addition of a day in court, appealing against the 13 licence conditions applied to one of our other pubs, the Swan at Denham.
Monday begins with a meeting at the Old Queens Head with our new business development manager from Greene King, Emma Thwaites. We have a bit of a giggle over coffee, as in the rush to acquire the pub we neglected to sign the direct debits for the rent and beer. So far we haven't paid a thing so a flurry of forms and cheques ensues as we sort everything out.
The big worry is the kitchen. It's been stripped out ready to be filled with kit, but we still have no head chef, although I have high hopes for a guy we are seeing on Saturday.
We are now at the crucial point where everything has to come together in perfect sequence. Getting all the trades - sparks, plumbers, flooring etc - to arrive in the right order is a task worthy of Mission Control Houston.
At least everyone is talking to each other and knows what the score is. For instance, if we don't get the electrics absolutely right before the walls are clad in metal sheet, then chef might not have somewhere to plug his MagiMix in - which won't be good news, whoever he turns out to be.
Fortunately, the rest of the pub is coming together nicely and we agree the detail of light fittings, ironmongery etc. with project manager Justin Horne from our builders AMA Austin. The internal changes are happening too and they are transforming the place, making it lighter, warmer and more welcoming.
And so to court, which turns out to be two days instead of one. In the end we get a result, of sorts, and half of our costs paid. But it's something we could have done without.
Back at the Old Queen, David's creative side has come to the fore with a cute sketch of the pub. We always use line drawings of our pubs in our marketing material, but the one we commissioned for the Old Queen just wasn't right.
David's is perfect - which makes me wonder why we've been paying for drawings all these years when my husband could have done them instead?
The week ends with a warm, positive feeling. The interview for the head chef goes really well. He's ideal for us, has done the volumes we require, loves his cooking and buys into our culture and what we are trying to achieve.
Plus, he's fantastic looking, which as far as I'm concerned is no bad thing.
