Pub boss kicks out drug users and is now set to unveil another change
IT’S COCKTAILS NEXT AS WORK TO IMPROVE VENUE PAYS OFF
IT was once a pub with a reputation for being involved in drugs but now a new landlord is hoping to turn around the business and bring families back into his establishment.
Nathan Ward took over The Hawthorns in Alfreton Road, South Normanton, in April and has already brought in a number of changes in the hope of attracting more people back into the pub.
The 26-year-old said: “The first thing we did was clamp down on that [the drug problem] and it was zero tolerance from day one, anyone caught with drugs was just barred, there were no second chances.
“We have stopped a few in the very early days and we made it quite clear that anyone caught was barred so I think the message got across quite quick.”
The 26-year old has also reintroduced food to the offering at The Hawthorns and added a Sunday carvery to the menu. As Mr Ward explained, the changes appear to be working.
He said: “In the last couple of months we have got a lot of new faces who haven’t been for a while but they’re coming back.
“We’re being told the atmosphere in here is better, we’ve told them our plans for the place and what we want to add to it and they come again and again and again.”
The pub, which is just off a major junction between Alfreton Road and Birchwood Lane, is set for a major relaunch. Mr Ward, and his mum, who helps out at The Hawthorns and is often called “mum” by some of the younger regulars, have been working on a revamp of one of their other rooms. Mr Ward says he’s had a lot of inquiries about what is going on behind the blacked-out windows, exclusively telling the Derby Telegraph that it will be a cocktail bar, something The Hawthorns has never had in the past. He said: “This weekend we’re opening up the cocktail bar, that’s been a bit of a hush, hush kind of thing, it’s all been kept secret and no one knows.
“We’ve had so many messages wanting to know what it’s going to be.
“We’ve just put in the finishing touches and it’ll open this weekend ready for the Christmas period, hopefully, it will entice more people down for the cocktails.”
The cocktail bar has a single bar at the top end of the room with high tables and seats dotted around.
The lampshades are decorated with leaf designs, painted on by Mr Ward’s mum, and there are other subtle decorations around the room and hanging from the windows.
The bar area has the usual beer, larger and cider taps but behind it, on the wall, are optics ready for the spirits and mixers needed to quench the thirst of those in need of a Margarita, Pina Colada or whichever cocktail takes their fancy.
The Hawthorns is right at the heart of the South Normanton community and Mr Ward and his mum hope it will be a very good village pub for the community. He said: “We do have our weekend nights when we do have a party atmosphere but we want that for the whole family.
“Our main aim is to keep the families coming back, get the families in, in the week, not just at the weekends.
“As well as families, we want to use the cocktail bar to bring the younger ones in and create a balance between the two.”
Our main aim is to get the families in, in the week, not just at the weekends.
Nathan Ward