Blurring the boundaries

For better or for worse, the smoking ban is here to stay.

The challenge now for pubs is learning how to make the most of the new era. Progressive-thinking pubcos and individual licensees have seen the ban as an opportunity to enhance their business, whether by bolstering the food offer or sprucing up their interior.

However, this has resulted in a blurring of boundaries, where defining an outlet as pub, bar or restaurant is proving increasingly tricky - much to the distress of some, in and outside of the trade.

One example of this blurring has occurred at the Orchid Group-owned Brown Cow and Dragon in Whitkirk, Leeds.

Formerly just the Brown Cow, the addition of a Dragon highlights the pub's complete overhaul and a new image as a Thai-themed, food-centric pub.

Manager Russell Haselhurst says it was in need of a lick of paint. "It was a two-for-one food, wet-led pub, very traditional with a regular local crowd," he says. "Female professionals staying in the hotel next door didn't used to enjoy coming in, they found it quite intimidating."

After a top-to-bottom refurb, things have changed dramatically. "It's completely different now, you wouldn't recognise it," says Russell. "The whole place has been softened. There are open fires, lots of low settees, screens dividing different areas, candles and flowers."

In order to update the pub, the Orchid Group enlisted the help of Ocean Design, who won the Pub Design of the Year award at last year's Publican Awards.

The company has transformed the Brown Cow and Dragon into a modern 'concept pub', with an unused conference room being re-imagined as a Thai restaurant.

Bar counters have a dark walnut appearance, with the front of the bar finished in a brown leather pad, which softens the overall appearance. A black 'leather-look' wallpaper creates the perfect backdrop for Thai-style bric-a-brac on the walls, such as hand-carved wooden masks.

But Orchid was keen not to alienate the pub's regulars, so the downstairs bar has a more restrained, pubby feel. Russell describes it simply as "a modern pub with a twist".

Designer Janine Ramsay from Ocean says combining the new with the traditional was the biggest challenge of the project.

"You're meeting the needs of the existing clientele and trying to create this new theme and look," she says.

"It was hard to combine the two because you don't want each part being separate - it needs a cohesiveness, but I think we've achieved that."

Buddhist monks blessed the venue when it re-opened and it seems to have worked so far, as Russell reports a three-fold increase in customers since the refurb.

Janine believes the now-thriving Brown Cow and Dragon is an excellent example of where pubs can go after the smoking ban.

"I think this kind of project is the future for pubs, because people's expectations have got so much higher," she says. "At one time people didn't tend to look around their environment so much, but now the public don't want every pub to look the same.

"You can do a lot for less money than we spent here.

Pubs should work with what they've got already and look to enhance it, as most have got a lot of character. A pub can be made to look totally different even by just replacing upholstery."