Villagers toast four new pubs in six months

Residents of three small, neighbouring villages are raising a glass to new pubs and restaurants opening on their doorstep in 2025, bucking the trend of recent struggles within the hospitality industry.

The quaint surroundings of Clent, Hagley and Belbroughton in Worcestershire have welcomed four new premises and a coffee shop within a few months of each other, suggesting a lean towards suburban dining over an urban eating experience.

The hospitality industry said in summer that more than half of the UK's job losses since the previous budget had come from its sector.

So how are the new landlords making it work amid the challenges all businesses are facing?

Mike Livsey, the 20th publican to take on The Fountain by Clent Hills, said he "fell in love" with it after spending months hunting for the right premises.

After agreeing the lease with Marstons, the upper, mid-market restaurant celebrating British food opened in early December.

Mr Livsey, who previously ran recruitment companies, has hired two chefs who have competed on the BBC's Masterchef: The Professionals and a former Harvey Nichols wine expert.

"We make everything in-house - stocks, sauces, our own pastry desserts," he said.

"We want to show we have that quality of produce and flavour that you can get in a very high-end establishment, but in human-size portions at human prices."

He has plans for a kitchen garden, an upstairs pub offering cheaper food alongside a small skittle alley and discounts for locals.

According to his research, there are 105 pubs within a five-mile radius of his. But he believes new ones can thrive, describing the recent additions as forming "a little mile, or mile-and-a-half that's really exciting for everyone".

"I think fine dining is struggling in the UK. But value-led is alive and no matter what happens, birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas don't go away and people need a venue to go to," he added.

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A short uphill walk from the Fountain is The Hill Tavern, a popular pub which closed for several years before Chris Massey bought it with a business partner.

Since refurbishing it and reopening in August, he runs it with his daughter, serving traditional pub fare.

Previously working in engineering and stockholding, he spotted a chance to run The Hill after walking past it every day with his dogs.

Thanks to all those doing the same at weekends with their pets, business has been booming.

"Saturdays and Sundays are very busy, I'm really chuffed with it," he said.

Mr Massey said he believed the reason the new pubs were working so well was because "they're all different animals".

"There is no conflict. We're different. I'm also a great believer in synergy - the more things there are in the same area, the more you attract."

The pub did about 200 covers on a Sunday and serving breakfasts from 09:00 had really boosted takings, he said.

"You've got to give people a lot of value for money. When the place is busy and you're taking plenty of money, you sleep well. It's just a lovely building to have," he said.

The Woodman once operated as a coaching inn, or rest stop for long distance travellers, local history websites state. In the 1920s it was sold to brewers Mitchells and Butlers in Smethwick and went on to be called The French Hen in the early 2000s.

It is now a high-end steak and cocktail venue which opened in June.

With American influences through its new owner, a family-orientated offering has proved popular, with word quickly spreading, according toRyan Deegan, general manager.

Almost opening in nearby Bewdley, the team instead pounced on the large, black and white pub and restaurant, revamping it and reclaiming the original The Woodman name, which has "pleased the locals".

"A comparable that people have thrown back to us is Pasture [a fine steak restaurant] in Birmingham," Mr Deegan, former manager of The Ivy, said.

"I feel we've taken the good aspects of that and added in a country or outskirts feel."

Mr Deegan said some people had become tired of travelling into Birmingham to eat out and were looking for quality in other areas.

And he agreed the variety around Hagley was key to its success.

"Everyone around this area, they're all doing something a little bit different, but the little bit different they're doing, they're doing very well."

Another man bringing yet more variety is Darren MacDonald, or Mack, whoruns tyre and exhaust centres around the Black Country.

His dreams of running a pub came true when The Holly Bush in Belbroughton came on the market and he and his brother Jamie decided to buy it.

They took on the "dead on its feet" pub in January, investing heavily in a total refurbishment before opening in June as a "traditional boozer" serving food including cobs, pies, and fish and chips.

Their mission to "do simple food done right" saw them voted CAMRA Pub of the Season by the Redditch & Bromsgrove branch last month.

They have about 60 to 70 covers, serve 150 Sunday lunches each week with their staff of about 20, and are proud of the beer they sell from smaller breweries.

"It's massively different to what it was," Darren MacDonald said.

"We've got new customers every day. We had someone come in from Coventry just for our cobs."

Offering something alternative had been a secret to the success, he said.

"We're giving people of a certain age group - more middle age - what they want.

"We're not trying to be something we're not. We're just trying to do something at a reasonable cost, done well... and if you do that, people will come."

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