Greene King admits second thoughts over Flame Grill pub sign branding

The rethink comes after local pressure groups forced the Bury St Edmund’s-based pubco and brewer to change back the town’s historic Dog and Partridge pub to its original pictorial pub sign.

Flame Grill pub signs come without pictures. Instead, they carry the name of the pub under the Greene King name and trademark green branding.

Richard Lewis, managing director of Greene King’s local pubs division, said the changes “may not be right in all 85 of our Flame Grill pubs and, as a result, we are looking again at the pictorial signs at some of the more historic pubs”.

Lewis added: “We are passionate about our pubs and it is heartening that the local community appears to be just as passionate.”

Alan Jary, chairman of the Bury Society conservation group, said he was happy that Greene King was reviewing its decision, and he hoped the company would look individually at each site and put the appropriate signage in.

He said: “We don’t want to be negative, as we appreciate the pub trade needs all the help it can get these days. If Greene King was taking on a new pub development somewhere, that sort of signage might be quite applicable. But not on a traditional 16th Century inn.”

Jary believed it was still possible to have Flame Grill branding on a traditional pub, but it has to blend in with the surrounding environment.

“The current Flame Grill sign looks like a piece of MDF with DIY lettering on. I think that with a good graphic designer the whole thing could look more tasteful.

“While branding in this day and age is quite important, cloning is something that we just don’t want to see. And there’s a very fine line between the two.”

Greene King said the new Flame Grill branding had “generally been very well received” by its customers.