Tonight Josephine to launch, Pub is The Hub helps open shop at Cumbrian site

Adventure Bar Group to open Tonight Josephine site in Cardiff

The Adventure Bar Group, the company behind venues such as Adventure Bar, Blame Gloria, Bar Elba and The Escapologist, has announced it will launch its latest Tonight Josephine site in Cardiff – creating 30 new jobs.

Formerly known as Charleston’s Steakhouse, the Caroline Street location will be receiving a trademark bubble gum pink makeover to welcome the cocktail bar. The concept has three sites in London and one in Birmingham with the Cardiff iteration set to launch in March. 

The site will have a capacity of around 290 covers and The Adventure Bar Group said revellers can expect a lavish cocktail menu, late-night adventures, and extravagant bottomless brunches when the venue announces its events schedule, a little later in the year.

Adventure Bar Group founder Tom Kidd said: “We love Cardiff and have admired its vibrance and hospitality scene for some time. We’ve built a legion of Tonight Josephine fans in London and Birmingham; we’ve had such an amazing reaction to the concept so far. We can’t wait to open our doors to the people of Cardiff in true ‘Tonight Josephine’ style.”

Cumbrian licensees open only store in the village

Publicans Rebecca and Joseph Richards have come to the rescue of residents by opening a new village store at the Royal Oak Hotel in Beckermet, Cumbria. 

The village store was opened with the expert help and a grant from Pub is The Hub, the not-for-profit organisation that helps pubs to diversify and provide essential local services.   

The shop has been opened in a former pool room after the couple took over the site in March 2021. The premises had been closed for two years but was reopened after a refurbishment with a focus on food.

The shop, which is the only store in the village, offers essentials such as bread, milk and local produce as well as takeaway foods such as pizzas and fish and chips.

Rebecca Richards said: “It has been such a challenging time for local people and the village store is proving to be such a lifeline. Customers have asked that we start to stock meat products such as bacon and sausages so we already talking to a local butcher to broaden the range we offer.” 

Pub is The Hub regional advisor Malcolm Harrison said: “The store’s opening has really helped Beckermet residents who now have somewhere to go for their essentials, takeaway food and also to have some of that much needed social interaction.”

Brewers Arms gets £120k makeover with long-term licensee

The Brewers Arms in Berwick-upon-Tweed has undergone a £120,000 investment under the stewardship of long-term licensee of more than 25 years, Margaret Straughan. 

The pub has been transformed internally throughout whilst maintaining the character of the traditional high street pub. The bar has been redecorated with new seating areas and artwork linked to the military history in the area.

Straughan said: “The pub is just lovely now. We’ve retained its beautiful character. It looks so much better and the customers love it too as there’s more seating for eating and drinking.”

The new look pub also got to open with a flourish of new customers when it hosted stranded rail travellers during Storm Arwen. 

Greene King Pub Partners business development manager Sarah Barron said: “Margaret has been running the Brewers Arms for 25 years now and is what you would call a genuine, traditional pub landlady. She understands how to run a proper pub and with her at the helm and the new reinvigorated interior, the pub will go from strength to strength.

“She showed how a good pub should be when she helped out so many people during the recent storms and we are delighted that she runs a pub with Greene King Pub Partners. She’s a real asset to us and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed”.

Revamped Red Lion Holdings pub reopens with 30 bedrooms

The Hare & Hounds pub has reopened following a seven-month refurbishment with the addition of 30 bedrooms.

Red Lion Holdings pub investment group has opened the doors at the site in Speen, Newbury, Berkshire, following an extensive renovation. Repositioned as a premium quality 30-bed coaching inn with pub and dining, the business is

located halfway between London and Bath.

Hare & Hounds general manager Andrew Charlton welcomed customers for the official opening on Friday 21 January. The site is expected to bring 80 new jobs to the area and it is working with Newbury Catering College to offer an array of apprenticeship opportunities.

The coaching inn will accommodate 30 boutique rooms in four separate room blocks, clustered in and around the 17th century Georgian pub site, all named after the equestrian world or historic dignitaries.

The pub company said: “Every room has been designed to make guests feel right at home with quality surrounds, enjoying eclectic wall coverings, seriously good showers, Roberts radios, Bramley bath products, The White Company bathrobes and slippers (upon request), super king and king-sized beds with luxurious bedding, Nespresso coffee machines, welcome decanters of sloe gin and much more.” There is also a selection of dog-friendly rooms available.

Inception Group to open Mr Fogg’s site in late spring

Inception Group, which is behind Bunga Bunga, Maggie’s and Cahoots, is being backed by a loan from property landlord Grosvenor Britain & Ireland’s Tenant Investment Fund to open a new Mr Fogg’s site at the former restaurant and bar Balls Brothers site on Brook Street Mayfair in late spring this year.

Inception Group founder and director Charlie Gilkes said: “The iconic former Balls Brothers site in Mayfair is a fantastic space from which to create a truly exceptional iteration of a Mr Fogg’s cocktail bar.

“Mayfair is changing all the time. Alongside world renowned brands like Claridge’s and Le Petit Maison, we’ll be opening close to retail and hotel developments like the Rosewood and Biltmore in Grosvenor Square, and the South Molton Triangle development.”

Grosvenor Property UK chief executive James Raynor said: “The West End is renowned for its world-class sense of occasion and fun. Inception Group’s immersive destinations are the capital’s most highly anticipated openings, and their expansion in Mayfair is a huge vote of confidence in the future of central London’s night-time economy.”

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