A central part of the Shropshire site’s renovation was the restoration of dining and events space ‘the Boathouse’ in recognition of Bridgnorth’s rowing club – the town’s oldest society established in 1865 – which the pub will now sponsor through a range of fundraising events.
The brewery also commissioned Paul Georgiou to create an array of traditional stained-glass windows for the site’s reopening. His work appears at a number of Joule’s sites.
Joule's Brewery property manager Marie Poole said: “We’re proud to have many craftsmen who contribute to all our taps and have such joy in their work. Our philosophy is to allow our whole team a great deal of latitude in how they interpret our ideas. Our projects are very much a team effort, we don’t have any designers, each of our tradesmen put their own ideas into the work, and I hope people will see the care and research that has gone into the restoration of the Shakespeare.”
Introducing a 'winning formula'
New publicans Gill and Tony Williams will move to the Shakespeare Inn from another Joule's site – the Bricklayers Arms in Shrewsbury – where they spent six years in charge.
Tony Williams added: “We are very excited about the refurbishment of this great old pub and I am looking forward to bringing our winning formula from the Bricklayers Arms in Shrewsbury to the Shakespeare, focusing on great beers and wines, great locally sourced food and excellent service.
“We look forward to meeting all our new customers, who will not only be customers but also become friends. Between Gill and me, we have nearly 60 years’ experience in the trade and, along with Joule’s, we hope that our combined love of the pub, will make the Shakespeare the best place to be in town.”
Gill Williams added: “We will run a proper pub with a friendly atmosphere and some decent banter, the type of place where everybody is welcome and everybody feels safe.
“On top of this we are very locally minded and look to use as many local suppliers as possible. We look forward to seeing you here soon.”