Longshoot pub gets brand new look

POPULAR pub and restaurant the Longshoot on the A5 will reopen next week with a whole new look after undergoing a radical transformation under new operator Greene King.

The outlet was shut on November 6 to enable the transformation to take place. The hotel was closed for just two days, November 5 to 7, and is now open for business again.

Suffolk-based Greene King, which runs the Hun- gry Horse chain, including Hinckley’s Hansom Cab, acquired the Spirit Pub Company in a £774 million deal in 2015.

When the firm took over a rebrand was announced and potentially scheduled for spring 2017 with the potential for the former Spirit title Fayre and Square to be changed to a different brand.

It now appears instead of converting Spirit and Chef and Brewer marques, Greene King has embraced them.

The Longshoot boasts a carvery and restaurant, large lounge bar which hosts entertainment and a 47 room hotel, used in the 70s as the exterior location for filming soap opera Crossroads.

With the takeover of the Spirit Pub Company, Greene King now has a group of more than 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country.

The move is part of the businesses’ plan to shift focus onto food service with restaurants and pubs which serve food.

Under chief executive Rooney Anand, Greene King - which was formed in 1799 - has been reorganising its pubs estate, selling 275 tenanted and leased pubs to Hawthorn Leisure.