Pub Awards: Best Partnership Winner - The Hastings, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland

The Star Pubs & Bars leasehold was flagging, on account of the previous licensee’s poor health, and takings had fallen.

Following a major investment by Star and the work and vision of Evans and Thompson, weekly turnover has now soared seven-fold and continues to grow as the pub’s reputation for food spreads. Meals are all freshly prepared and the Hastings’ chef has created a unique Geordie Tappaz menu, a choice of small-plate regional delicacies that has put the pub on the map.

As well as capital investment, Star provided pre-opening training for staff, installed Heineken UK’s state-of-the-art Smart dispense system in the cellar and supplied the bar with exclusive cask ales – Hastings 1066 and Daft as a Brush, 20p per pint from which goes to charity.

Range

Its range of wines and spirits have also been broadened and premiumised, with the pub now offering seven different gins.

The Hastings hosts bands every Friday night, plus live duos on Sundays, and has opened a function room upstairs.

Evans and Thompson, with their pubco fully behind them, are encouraging the community to step back over the threshold of a pub that was losing local confidence, and attracted people from further afield with its imaginative food.