Neither Jimmy nor his wife Danielle have ever lived more than ten minutes away from their local pub.
Jimmy’s business had been struggling due to covid, and it was time for a change. During a drunken conversation one night, he found out that the pub was becoming available. ‘I’d never poured a pint in my life’. After another, more sober, chat the following day he and Danielle made the decision to take over The Old Bank pub.
The previous landlord had been very keen to keep the pub as it had been for decades. Having run the Bank and the Queen Vic for thirty years, he knew what the locals wanted. ‘Craft beers are great, but the locals round here don’t drink it’. Jimmy and Danielle were keen to honour the previous owners’ wishers and have maintained a local and devoted clientele. As well as being a locals’ pub, they still get plenty of passing trade, especially on match days, when the pub fills with people who have all known each other for decades.
The staff are all local and include Jimmy and Danielle’s three children. Like most businesses, keeping up with rising costs continues to be a struggle. However, that is the only knockback. ‘It’s been a roller-coaster two and a half years. We’ve made so many friends. Great people, really fantastic’.