The Guv'nor
A neighbour first, a business second
Going back to the '70s, the focal point of community life was the village store, the post office and of course the local pub.
You look at the same villages today. The (G-G-G-Granville) grocery stores have been replaced with shiny new hypermarkets and the post offices are a dying breed. The pub is the
only thing left to keep community life alive.
Two months ago I took on a Punch lease at the Dene in Sunderland. The pub is tucked away right in the centre of a housing estate. It's a true local and the more time I spend behind the bar, the more I realise the importance and significance of the community around us.
It's a cliché, but in a pub the customer is always right. It's the little things that make the difference and the experience that makes our customers come back. I'm their neighbour first before I'm the landlord.
We have a lady of 86 who drinks at the pub. She lives just across the road so one of the bar staff walks her back to her front door at the end of the evening.
Before we put together our wine list, we asked our customers for their input to make sure it includes the wines that they like to drink. And if customers ask for food at a time when we're not serving, I get in my whites (a chef by trade) and rustle something up.
The Dene used to be known as Taylor's and had a pretty poor reputation with a very different, wet-led customer base. With the support of Punch and our BRM, Alex Smith, we're working to turn this around and build a strong family-orientated, community pub.
There are many young families around us, as well as the over-70s, so we make sure the pub environment is a place they can all enjoy. We will be putting on barbecues and community activities in the gardens, quiz nights, curry nights, and the function room can accommodate christenings, funerals and parties.
Our customers are very supportive — I see the Dene as their pub.
For me running a pub is not a job, it's a passion, so let's make sure the pub continues to be the focus of community life.
