Restoring old pubs has become a habit for Trevor Harris, but there again so has setting up microbreweries - he has done both twice.
Trevor's latest venture challenged authority by taking on a pub in the centre of Derby - the Royal Standard - which was under threat of demolition.
Built in 1862, the pub was closed and looked doomed as Cityscape, an urban regeneration company, wanted to knock it down as part of a plan to build offices, apartments and a hotel.
But Trevor thought the pub was worth saving. "I decided if anybody was going to save it, it was me," said Trevor. He checked it legally and bought the pub last December.
The Royal Standard had its grand re-opening last month, following what is rumoured to have been a £100,000 re-furbishment. Trevor says only: "We spent a lot of money, but it's worth it."
Around the building, white paint was stripped from the exterior to reveal original brick and stone, while inside a fireplace and two oak beams were uncovered.
Two new bars have been put in along with toilets. It has a light airy feel, complemented by a courtyard and an outside terrace upstairs where drinkers can look over the Derwent riverside gardens.
Past glories
However, Trevor's fantastic efforts to transform the pub, along with his son Paul, will come as no surprise to those who know him.
Some 20 years earlier he performed a similar trick at the Brunswick Inn, a former derelict Hardy Hanson's outlet. He and builder John Evans took it on and refurbished it as a freehouse, with Trevor later buying out John.
But Trevor believes that most enjoyment comes from beer. And four year later, as part of an extension to the Brunswick, he set up his own microbrewery - the first in the city. The pub and brewery were bought out by Everards in 2002, but Trevor could not get brewing beer out of his blood. "Unknown to wife Kes I had kept a few pieces of brewing plant in the garden shed, because you never know," he says.
Unsurprisingly, he returned to brewing in September 2004, creating his own brews in a business park at a former paint factory.
The Derby Brewing Company was born. And from an initial 10 barrels, production has now grown to 15 (36 gallon) barrels a week. There are six core beers, plus four additional ones each month. As well as personally delivering them locally with his wife, they also go to Nottingham Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester and North Wales.
Brews on display
Now the brews are on proud display at his latest acquisition, the Royal Standard - also known as the Brewery Tap.
In fact, the pub has 10 handpumps. Five for Trevor's Derby Brewing Company with their clips showing a Ram's head - the symbol of the city and its football club - one for a Timothy Taylor brew, and four for guest ales.
And since the pub's official opening - by former Derby County player Roger Davies and beer writer Roger Protz - the reaction has been positive.
"The feedback that we have had is that it's just what Derby wanted, a complete drinking experience," says Trevor.
Accolades have already been paid. Maxwell Craven, a local historian and civic society member, says: "Trevor has done a wonderful job in restoring a building that people had written off as commercially hopeless, particularly with the threat of demolition hanging over it."
While John Arguile, chairman of Derby branch of CAMRA agreed, saying: "It's an excellent restoration of an old building combined with 21st century-style that will appeal to all types of drinkers."
Trevor has even hinted that there could be more challenges. "I asked Roger Davies to cut the tape carefully, so we could use it again," he added.