Pub reopens after £300k makeover
BROOK HOUSE REFURBISHED BUT ‘RETAINS IT CHARACTER’
THE Brook House pub in Hayes has reopened after a £300,000 makeover.
The traditional community pub, in Kingshill Avenue, has been given a complete overhaul inside and out after closing for eight weeks at the end of March.
It reopened on June 6 and on Thursday July 5 hosted an official launch party.
The pub has now been taken over by the Craft Union Pub Company, which invests in local community wet-led pubs – pubs which don’t serve food.
There have been no structural changes to the building but the pub was gutted inside.
All the fixtures and fittings have been replaced and it has been redecorated and given new carpets and flooring.
Frazer Grimbleby, operations director of Craft Union Pub Company, said: “We always like to retain the character of the pub. Every pub will be very individual to us.”
An area with softer and fixed seating has been created for relaxed day-time comfort, as well as a standing area with high tables and high stalls and big TV screens.
There is even a space with a pool table and darts board.
The pub has 15 large TVs throughout, which show Sky Sports and BT Sports, so people can watch the various games going on at the same time.
An audiovisual (AV) sound system has been installed for evenings of music entertainment – the pub has live music, DJ and karaoke nights.
The TVs are linked up to the music system so that when there is a big sporting game on it can be shown on every screen and the volume comes through the AV system and adds to the atmosphere.
Mr Grimbleby said: “What we are trying to develop is a viewing experience many people have at home into the community pub, so rather than people being at home they can come in with a group of friends and their family and enjoy coming down the pub again.”
The décor is traditional and Mr Grimbleby added: “We are very careful not to make it like a sports bar. That is just not what we are. We are a pub.
“Even though we show sport we do lots of different things in the day and during the week. The pub has got to retain the traditional pub feel.”
Outside, improvements have been made to the large garden, which holds up to 100 people, including bringing in new garden furniture and repairing the decking.
There are TV screens outside so you can still watch the big game.
Mr Grimbleby said the company is potentially hoping to install an outside bar, as long as licensing is approved.
Although The Brook House does not serve food – “we are just a quality community pub, as simple as that” – sometimes it might offer free sandwiches or chips to its customers.
“It harks back to what a community pub should be about. We like to give something back to the community,” said Mr Grimbleby.
“We are just getting an amazing response from the local community who are so overwhelmed and so pleased and so thankful to us for putting the quality back into a community pub.
“They really feel we have supported them as much as we have invested in our local pub.”
Jason Haskew is the manager of The Brook House and has been in charge since August 2017.
He grew up down the road and, still living locally today with family nearby, he was a regular at the pub before running it, so has been using it for 20 years.
He said: “As a business I know its potential. I have been using it for a long, long while. I have always known what a great business it is. It has always done well, it has always been busy.”
He added: “[Craft Union has] put a bit of life back and I think she is ready to go for a good few years. “They have kept the traditional lo look of the pub. It is beautiful in inside
“It is very warm and welcomin ing compared to what it was.
“The response from the custo tomers has been overwhelming. Ev Everybody is loving it.
““We are getting to see a lot of ne new faces, people of all ages as we well, which is what a community pu pub should really be delivering.
““To have the opportunity to run it is a dream come true for me.”