MY PUB: The Wildmoor Oak, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

The pub is just south-west of Birmingham and on the north-east edge of Bromsgrove so sits close enough to major roads for access but far enough away from the hustle and bustle to be an enjoyable day out in the countryside.

Here, tenant Bex Wilkins tells The Morning Advertiser all about this lovely pub.

The pub

The Wildmoor Oak is a destination gastropub, located down a country lane just off the M5 motorway south of Birmingham. It has a lovely large garden with seating for 60 for alfresco eating and drinking including on a terrace with a covered heated stretch tent.

Inside, there is capacity for 80 covers. The space is open with a central bar. There’s a relaxed bar area to one side with double doors leading on to the terrace and a more formal dining space on the right with a log fire, floral fabric covered dining chairs and botanical prints on the wall.

My partner Sarah Robinson and I identified there was a gap in the market locally for a top-end, food-led country pub and felt the location and the pub once refurbished would be perfect for our plans.

We opened the Wildmoor Oak in May 2024 following a £500,000-plus refurbishment with Star Pubs, who we rent the pub from. The Wildmoor Oak had been a Caribbean restaurant before and had been closed for 18 months. The investment completely transformed the look and feel inside and out changing the exterior from a bright blue to a classic cream colour, more in keeping with our offer.

The publican

Sarah and I are both local. I grew up in Bromsgrove and Sarah comes from Solihull.

I was marketing director and Sarah was Pod director, both at Peach Pubs – an award-winning business of 22 pubs.

We realised, when it was sold, we were more suited to working in a smaller independent style of business with an entrepreneurial culture than a corporate environment. We had talked about running a pub business of our own, so when Sarah saw the opportunity at the Wildmoor Oak, we decided to take the plunge.

We knew with a good chef that we could make it work. We had already had conversations with Peter Jackson who worked at the Michelin-starred Carters in Birmingham about doing something at some stage. When Carters closed and moved to London, the stars aligned for us all and he was able to join us as our head chef.

The trade

We’re located in a small village of 400 and offer restaurant-quality food in a pub environment.

We attract people from Birmingham and the surrounding area who visit us to eat as well as villagers, who pop in a couple of times a week for a pint or drink and families gathering for a weekend lunch.

Our guests share a love of food. Many people who work in hospitality come here to eat and larger groups celebrating a special occasion. Our core regulars are aged 45 and older, and have disposable income.

The team

We have 30 full and part-time team front-of-house, including seasonal employees, and nine in the kitchen.

With the years of experience between us, the three of us are able to run tight well-trained teams that deliver consistently. Sarah and I are front of house, hosting and serving guests. We also have a deputy, assistant manager and supervisor, and continue to recruit shining stars to enable us to grow.

We cross train to enable flexibility and upskilling all team to be as confident serving on the bar as they are running a section. We train everyone on the provenance of our food and drink and our suppliers. Every time there’s a menu change, we get the team together to talk through the dishes and hold regular knowledge quizzes.

In the kitchen, the training is continuous and side-by-side. There is a flat hierarchy. Peter encourages an open and warm environment and involves everyone with autonomy over specials.

The drink

Our forte is wine and cocktails, though we get good feedback about the two cask ales we sell and, being a destination pub, we have a good non-alcoholic range.

We have a vast wine list of 48, including 25 by the glass. Wine proved so popular that in the first 12 months, we had to extend our range by 25%.

We are fortunate enough to have a verre de vin, which allows us to offer a wide range. We switch up the list every six months and have a real variety, including an English sparkling, white and rosé, and our ‘trust us’ section showcases some lesser-known varieties. We also have a non-alcoholic sparkling wine and a red.

The food

Food is the main draw for the Wildmoor Oak. Our food is restaurant quality using high-quality ingredients and as much British produce as possible. All our meat is free-range and our menu is short – changing seasonally.

It includes a mix of quality pub classics such as Cornish lamb pie, a burger, and fish & chips as well as special dishes like bubble & squeak with pork tenderloin in the week or whole lemon sole and sharing steaks at the weekend.

On Fridays, all our specials are fish. Pete loves prepping fish and there is nowhere decent locally to eat fish, so we really lean into this.

At lunchtime, we offer snacks and starters such as sausage roll or focaccia with Marmite butter, and there’s always a couple of sandwiches.

The events

Our events are mainly food-focused. To celebrate our first anniversary at the pub, we held a ‘posh quiz’ with a food and drinks section.

We host quarterly wine and cheese nights which are a sell-out. Our cheese supplier comes in and talks about five cheeses, which we pair with five wines over five courses.

We have done a couple of pop-ups with industry friends such as Bonehead and Original Patty Men, which have gone down well.

The future

We’re in a lovely location and have an amazing garden that many people don’t know about.

Raising awareness of the Wildmoor Oak and our fantastic food is a priority. We’ve employed a PR agency to do this.

We’re now in the fortunate position to be looking to grow our pub business.

We have established The Wildmoor Oak and have experienced staff who are taking on more responsibility. This is allowing us to take on another tenancy with Star Pubs which will be more drinks led though, like the Wildmoor Oak, will focus on great quality.

• Do you operate a pub that you think would make a good feature for the MY PUB section? It doesn’t have to be a world-beating food-led pub or have the most beer taps in the world - so long as it is good and you can tell us about it? Email gary.lloyd@wrbm.com if you are interested.