Ready for action
From a Southampton community local to a high street bar in Hull… they are all here.
Last week we met our new line-up of category champions as we kick-started year two of Sell More, Save More - now meet the pubs.
The exhaustive selection process that began in the pages of The Publican months ago has now come to an end.
And after launching a hunt for three pubs to work with our champions - one representing community pubs, one rural pubs and one in the high street category - the quality of the entries and the keenness of our champions has resulted in us throwing two extras into the pot.
A string of shortlisted pubs were visited by Publican journalists last month, before the Sell More, Save More team came together to make their final selection.
And we've found the pubs, and the personalities, that will have a real story to tell in the months to come, with each of them offering differing levels of experience and style.
In the rural category we have found the Cross Keys in Henley, near Ipswich, and the Rose & Crown in Perry Wood, Selling - not far from Faversham in Kent.
Both pubs are run by relatively inexperienced licensees. Mark White at the Cross Keys came into the industry 18 months ago after 14 years working for wholesaler Makro.
Tim and Vanessa Robinson, meanwhile, arrived at the Rose & Crown two years ago after careers in food distribution, and at the Shepherd Neame head office.
But both have very different challenges, with one looking to win more passing trade from a main road into Ipswich - and the other very difficult to find (as I discovered when I went to visit it last month!)
Our community pubs also have some interesting challenges ahead.
Experienced pub manager Graham Bulpett has exciting plans for the Priory Arms in Stockwell, South London, after recently taking over the free-of-tie lease.
And at the Guide Dog in Southampton, licensee Paul Barden and Margaret Bridle, who runs the pub with him, are looking to continue to grow the business, and step up a very limited food offer, after moving from another local pub two years ago.
Our High Street pub is the White Hart in Hull - a brand new opportunity for experienced licensee Sue Perkins, who already runs three pubs in the area.
Each is looking forward to working with our category champions, and sharing the experiences of their businesses with other readers of The Publican in the months to come.
Watch this space to see what happens next!
