Wife Swap stars pleased as Punch

by Tony Halstead A starring role on the Channel 4 reality show Wife Swap proved immaculate timing for newcomer licensees Colin and Emma Spry.

The fly-on-the-wall documentary hit the TV screens just three weeks after the couple made their trade debut, with a 20-year Punch lease, at Starz Bar & Restaurantin Exeter, North Devon.

And thecouple have little doubt the publicity and exposure the programme gave to their new venture resulted in an immediate business lift-off.

Eight weeks after the opening, the new business is churning out an average of 350 meals per week, with bar trade also showing healthy growth.

"We had a good start but business really began to pick up after the programme was shown.

It was the best advert we could have hoped for and the kind of publicity you can only dream of," Colin recalled.

The programme saw Emma, a call-centre trainer, swap places with Lizzie from Rochdale, which also involved taking on her husband and eight children.

In domestic terms, the swap proved a complete disaster with Lizzie walking out after just three days to return north.

But part of the "swap" saw Colin and Emma formulating plans for their new business, with a number of sequences filmed on site.

The £200,000 venture, part-funded by the building'sowners Punch, saw the boarded-up pub transformed into a smart American-style bar and 86-cover restaurant.

"The Fizgig & Firkin had been boarded up for two years after being closed down under a noise abatement order."

"We had looked around for suitable premises for a restaurant around the Exeter area," said Colin, who previously worked as a nightclub manager in Torquay.

"When we found the pub we decided to explore the possibility of developing a scheme and thanks to Punch the dream quickly became a reality."

He said Punch had been very supportive, particularly with its willingness to back a venture in a pub property which had not traded for two years.

"Our American-style menu has proved very popular because it is so varied, enabling people to choose from a nachos or chicken wings right up to a 16oz rump steak," Colin said.

"We served 99 meals the other Saturday night and with the Christmas season fast approaching, things look very good indeed."

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The Sprys are the second pair of Punch lessees to have made it to the small screen via Wife Swap.

Last week the Morning Advertiser featured the efforts of Linda and Steve Lavin of the Hermitage Tavern, in Liverpool.