A group of individuals who have worked for award-winning Peach Pub Company have branched out to start their own venture.
The sister of Peach Pub Company founder Lee Cash, Leanne Langman, opened the Eight Bells in Saffron Walden as the first venture of a new company which is called Cozy Pubs, last month.
A second pub, the Cricketers, Rickling Green, which has ten bedrooms — it's six miles away from the first pub and 12 minutes from Stansted — opened at the weekend.
The company is aiming for a total of five sites. Among those serving as directors are Tim Doyle, a friend of Peach founder Lee Cash, and Leane's boyfriend Paul Cutforth, former Peach operations director and currently on the board at Orchid as operations director.
Both sites are Punch leased pubs and the team is thinking about putting in an offer for the freehold of the Eight Bells.
Langman said: "We're applying the same culture as at Peach — such as the importance of training and local suppliers."
Langman used to run Peach's The Swan at Salford, near Bedford, which won a string of awards, including Punch Taverns' Best Customer Service two years running and a "Highly Commended" in the Pubchef Food Excellence Awards in 2009.