GBPA 2024: Marston’s Pub of the Year – the Griffin, Loughborough, Leicestershire

It’s smart, comfortable and the drinks on the bar area a notch up on quality from what you might expect, featuring premium lagers, craft beers and cocktails. And while burgers are always popular, a full menu of pub classics and sharers are on offer.

The effect is that the Griffin is just as welcoming to seasoned locals and, indeed, the whole community as it is to students, keeping trade ticking along through the holidays. In fact, lessee John McCarthy has grown the business in each of the 10 years he’s been at the helm, including through Covid and the cost-of-living crisis.

Driving events​

Events are a big driver, the pub’s garden at the back providing a spacious venue for live gigs and an annual cider festival that have them queuing out the door to join the party. There’s sports on screen, too, with plenty of good vantage points to watch the big game – or even the smaller game – on Sky or TNT.

Great asset​

John does all his own marketing and there are drinks offers galore advertised around the pub and in the customer newsletter. He is also an experienced trainer and has seen many members of his team go on to manage their own pubs, and the Griffin’s reputation as an employer means that recruiting new people to replace them is not a problem.

Perhaps the thing that makes the pub really stand out, though, is the way John has worked with other businesses to make Loughborough’s centre a more attractive and safe destination, chairing the local Pubwatch, too.

The Griffin is not merely a superior student pub and community hub, it’s a great asset to the whole town.