MY PUB: The Ship Tavern, Holborn, London

This cherished, family-run pub has been leased from Star Pubs by Ross Evans for the past 25 years.

Evans is marking the Ship’s 475th anniversary this year with a series of special celebrations.

Rumoured to be haunted, the Ship Tavern is believed to have taken its name from shipping on the River Fleet, which ran through Holborn in the 16^th century.

Among its claims to fame, the pub served as an underground catholic church during Edward VI’s reign and was consecrated as a masonic Lodge in 1786. The pub is said to have been rebuilt in 1923 but still has its original cellar and layout.

The pub

The Ship is one of the last traditional pubs in this part of London. The building oozes character and charm.

Downstairs is a traditional timber-floored alehouse bursting with glass, brass and nautical bric-a-brac and with dividing screens that create a cosy and intimate feel.

On the first floor is the Oak Room – a Dickensian-style dining room for those wanting a more refined dining experience. It has mahogany panelled walls, ornate ceilings, high backed wood booths and a real fire. It’s a stunning room and is candle lit, which gives it a wonderful ambience that customers love.

My philosophy is to learn from the past to plan for the future, so although the Ship celebrates all that is best in the traditional British pub, we keep on top of the latest food and drink trends, too.

It’s one of the things I enjoy doing and keeps the job fresh and interesting. It also ensures our offer remains relevant in London’s fast-moving hospitality sector. This is critical to the Ship’s success because we have a lot of discerning customers who are spoilt for choice when it comes to where they go out.

While I’d love to own my own pub, leasing one works well. The Ship feels like my own and is perceived and valued as an independently operated business by my customers. However, I’ve also got the backing of a big company and the guidance of my business development manager behind me. With all the ups and downs of the last few years, I’ve really appreciated that safety net and support. 

The publican

I come from a long line of publicans and am the fourth generation of my family to have a pub in central London.

The Cock Tavern on Great Portland Street, where I initially grew up, was run by my great grandparents and was in the family for 70 years.

When I left school, I trained in graphic design and kicked off my career in a design studio. That stint lasted all of six months.

Running a pub is in my DNA and the call of the pub was too strong to ignore. It was a destiny I couldn’t escape. My first taste of true hospitality was at my parents’ pub the Wheatsheaf on Charlotte Street, in London’s West End. They operated a fantastic pub with a small, cosy restaurant on the first floor. It’s where I got the bug for the world of hospitality, enjoying all aspects of it.

A few years later, the opportunity came my way to take over the Ship Tavern. It is a beautiful building but was little-used and in dire need of some TLC back then. Years of hard work, sweat, and a few beers and tears, plus the incredible support of family, friends, and dedicated staff, have hopefully set the Ship on a steady course for the long-term.

The trade

The Ship Tavern sits right in Midtown, a busy thoroughfare between the City and the West End, at the heart of London's legal quarter.

Our demographic is as diverse as it gets – barristers and solicitors from nearby Lincolns Inn Fields mingle with tourists, students and shoppers from all walks of life as well as local residents. With so many hotels nearby, I work with the concierges to ensure the Ship is on the map for guests wanting to visit the quintessential British pub.

We put on special events for them and have also linked up with tour guides to make the pub a stop on walking tours and haunted tours of London.

We aim to be a welcoming spot for everyone. We make it our mission to cater for and offer something special for every taste and occasion.

The business is split into two – downstairs is all about drinks and socialising – upstairs is focused on dining. This means our trade is 60% wet and 40% dry.

The team

We all know how challenging it is to find good staff these days. With our fantastic team of about 25 committed staff, the Ship is truly in good hands.

We have developed a working environment where everyone feels valued and proud to be part of our team. We treat each member like family, which has helped us retain several long-term employees.

We are fortunate to have a number of dedicated full-time staff, including Jay, our head chef, with some team members having been with us for nearly 19 years.

The drink

As a traditional tavern, our priority is to get the fundamentals just right. We have six real ale hand pumps, with two ales that rotate weekly from local independent brewers from within a five-mile radius, along with our signature 475th year anniversary house ale, called 475, which is priced at £4.75 a pint.

We've also embraced the gin trend, inspired by Hogarth’s famous illustration of nearby Gin Lane. Our gin selection includes over 60 varieties from around the world. Pride of place goes to our own Holborn London Dry Gin. This is distilled specially for the Ship and is also available to buy in bottles, both at the bar and online. These are very popular.

We change our selection with the seasons. When summer arrives, we shake things up with Frozen Margaritas and Daiquiris, while in winter, we offer comforting drinks like toffee apple rum punch, mulled wine and hot buttered rum.

Our recent summer ‘War of the Rosés’ promotion was a great success, allowing customers to vote for their favourite European rosés versus American rosés.

Additionally, we offer a diverse range of beers and ciders from Heineken’s portfolio, alongside a variety of cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages.

The food

We are dedicated to celebrating all things traditional and British and our food reflects this passion. Our menus, curated by our head chef Jay and his talented team, deliver a true taste of the very best of classic British cuisine. Dishes – right down to the pastry – are made from scratch and we source our ingredients wherever possible from London’s markets, such as New Covent Garden and Smithfield.

Our downstairs bar menu features traditional snacks like homemade Scotch eggs, pork pies, cockles & muscles, and proper crackling with apple sauce, complemented by our new salt beef carvery that sits on the bar.

The dining room menu includes hearty favourites like Beef Wellington, Old Peculier real ale pie and traditional fish and chips as well as seasonal game dishes and our award-wining Sunday roasts.

The events

We regularly host themed events such as beer and gin festivals but like to do something a little bit different every now and again.

With so many people working from home on Fridays we launched our ‘Transport for London Off-Peak Friday’ food-led promotion. It’s proving very popular with tourists as well as those workers who are in the office treating themselves to a good meal before clocking off for the weekend.

The future

With declining numbers of traditional pubs in central London, there is a real market and demand for them and we’re see increasing numbers of people are seeking the Ship Tavern out.

We believe the future of the Ship Tavern is all about building on its history while embracing modern influences to deliver an even more welcoming and engaging atmosphere and food and drink that reflect the best of both worlds.

The Ship Tavern is dedicated to our community of guests and staff. I’m privileged to run this wonderful pub. I see myself as the custodian and my vision is clear: to ensure the Ship Tavern remains a beloved landmark in the city’s dining and social scene.

Here’s to the next 475 years.