Two Pints of Milk, Please Landlord
That’s the request that David and Yvonne Newman, licensees of The Hare and Hounds in Great Addington, Northamptonshire are going to have to get used to since adapting their pub to serve their village community more effectively.
The couple, who have run the Charles Wells Pub Company tenancy for 8 months, have converted a small, unused kitchen space into a village shop with the help of a grant from ‘Pub is the Hub’. They will sell a range of essential items identified as “most wanted” by residents of the village and believe it will prove to be a vital part of village life.
“Great Addington is a small community of about 350 residents” explained David Newman “and in the absence of a village shop, everyone’s had to travel a couple of miles for even the most basic provisions. We issued a questionnaire asking for the 20 products everyone would most like us to stock and have drawn up a list of the 50 or so most popular to get us started. It means The Hare & Hounds is now the first stop for milk, cheese, tomato sauce and cereal as well as their favourite pint of beer!”
Opening the shop on behalf of Charles Wells Pub Company, Peter Wells said “David and Yvonne fulfil a central role in local community life simply by virtue of running the village pub. They have shown fantastic vision to develop the retail opportunities at the pub and diversify to deliver another important service in the shape of the village shop. It’s an idea that our Retail Development Managers will discuss with other pub retailers within our estate when they are reviewing their business plans. This means that, where suitable, they can maximise the trading area available within their pubs – with the sale of alcohol on the premises sitting side by side with the sale of other consumables in a separate shop area.”
As well as the standard items, The Hare & Hounds village shop also stocks locally produced goods, including a range of preserves, to further demonstrate its commitment to the community. It will be open during the morning and late afternoon and customers will be able to ask for items at the bar when the shop itself is closed.
www.charleswells.co.uk
- ENDS -
For Immediate Release: Tuesday 10th July 2007
For Further Information, please contact: Kate Hempsall
Customer Marketing Manager, Charles Wells Pub Company
Tel: + 44 (0)1234 272625
OR David and Yvonne Newman, The Hare and Hounds
+44 (0)1536 330521
NOTES TO EDITORS
Pub is the Hub was set up in 2001 through the Rural Action Programme of Business in the Community. It encourages breweries, pub owners, licensees and local communities to work together to help retain and enhance rural pubs.
One supporter is HRH Prince Charles who believes “Rural communities, and this country's rural way of life, are facing unprecedented challenges ... the country pub, which has been at the heart of village life for centuries, is disappearing in many areas.
By providing new services from the pub, such as a post office or a shop, not only keeps an essential service in the village or brings a new one in.”
