Pub Awards: Best Freehouse finalist - Dirty Bottles/Ye Olde Cross, Alnwick, Northumberland

Imagine his concern then when he discovered that one of Alnwick’s historic pubs, the 400-year-old Dirty Bottles where he drank in his early pub-going years, was in danger of being converted into flats.

Jones leapt into action, bought the pub himself, and set about turning it back into an asset for the community. “I couldn’t bear the thought of it being turned into flats,” says Jones. “I bought it because of its iconic standing in the area.”

Renovation

What followed was a six-figure, five-month-long renovation project, which saw the pub transformed from a tired run-down property into a vibrant business that now attracts locals, visitors from a 40-mile radius and tourists, attracted by the pub’s unique mix of old and new. The old is provided by exposed original stonework and a stripped back, shabby-chic refurbishment. The new comes from free Wi-Fi, a self-pour craft beer wall, iPad ordering and self-pour beer fonts.

The whole customer experience, overseen by manager Daryl Milton (left), is capped off with an extensive and diverse range of cask, keg and craft beers, wines, spirits and cocktails, and a hugely popular food menu that majors on a US-style smoked meat and barbecue offer that has powered an increase in trade and seen turnover climb to more than £650,000 from a standing start in just 15 months.