Best City Urban Pub in the UK 2023

Naturally, the Turk’s Head is full on match days – when rugby-goers perpetuate a longstanding tradition of sticking their used ticket stubs to the ceiling – but it also revels in providing a space for popular events and groups to meet that keeps the tills ringing in between.

It’s home to a choir, a running club, and regular comedy, jazz, soul, blues and big band nights.

Recent investment

In addition to the light and spacious main bar, the pub has a large function space with its own street entrance, toilets and bar, where these can take place. The space is also a venue for many weddings and other private functions through the year.

Recent investment in an outside Secret Garden area has further increased the pub’s ability to host both its own bespoke events and popular ones on the Fuller’s roster, including its famous Shakespeare theatre nights.

The Turk’s Head has a brilliant food and drink offering – including 31 beer taps – with service from an affable and professional team that manager Oliver Coulombeau recruits from the local community.

Great example

This includes several team members with intellectual disabilities, as the pub attempts to drive accessibility and inclusivity in the workplace.

Sustainability is noticeably high on the agenda with Oliver putting all aspects of the business under genuine and rigorous scrutiny, resulting in some innovative – and at times counter-intuitive – measures to cut energy consumption and save costs.

The Turk’s Head is a great example of a pub that celebrates its history – a scene from the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night was filmed in the bar – while keeping pace with the commercial needs of the modern world.