Fifth pub for Provenance Inns
Michael Ibbotson and co-founder Chris Blundell have exchanged on former Punch site the West Park Hotel in Harrogate.
It will encapsulate the feeling of all the Provenance Inns pubs in a 150-cover restaurant and bar area downstairs with 20 to 25 bedrooms upstairs. It is the biggest site the pair have ever taken on and the fourth in two years.
“Being in a town is new for us but Harrogate is such beautiful old English spa town in a lovely area with lots of green that it fitted out criteria,” said Ibbotson. “We don’t want to be in the middle of London or Manchester but this site was an opportunity.”
The menu will be similar to that of the other sites with a focus on simple cookings with an eye on provenance. There is a theatre and large conference centre nearby that regularly holds trade shows so Ibbotson believes there will be plenty of trade passing through the town to fill the bedrooms.
He estimates a total of 50 staff will be required to operate the site, but it won’t be open for a year as it needs a complete internal refurbishment — rewiring, new kitchen, windows, cellar and car park. “It is a fabulous project and we are very excited,” he said.
Meanwhile, work is underway at the Carpenters Arms at Felixkirk to build 10 high specification bedrooms to be finished in June. The building will comprise eight garden suites and two in-house rooms, all single-storey around a landscaped garden. He is planning to price rooms from £100 to £200 a night depending on seasons and events. By summer the kitchen and garden room will also be extended. “The Carpenters is turning into a very nice business,” said Ibbotson.
The group also owns and runs flagship site the Durham Ox in Crayke, Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in Marton-cum-Grafton and the Oak Tree Inn at Helperby.
