New tenant, Charlie Cockaday, of The Fox in Felpham, did not write off 2020 when he was made redundant in the summer.
Upon returning to his home town of Felpham, he saw his local pub was closed and in need of a new tenant.
Together with his business partner, Donny Murray, they became the new business owners of this much-loved pub in November, just as the second wave of the global pandemic hit the UK.
Charlie explained: “In many ways, it does feel like a home coming. My family have lived in Felpham my whole life and when I returned home in the summer, I could not see this brilliant pub stay vacant.
The start to our story at The Fox is far from ideal – not many business owners and investors would take the risk of signing an agreement in the middle of a pandemic, however, I knew it was the right thing to do. We have made the most of being closed, it has allowed us to plan and really reflect on what we want to achieve. We have also been able to make the changes we wanted to the pub.”
Since making this courageous and entrepreneurial decision, the team has not looked back. Making the most of lockdown in December, they have invested in the pub’s infrastructure, updating the décor ,and are also adding a new patio area outside with its own outside bar.
They have also launched a takeaway service, which has proved a roaring success. Each week, they receive over 200 orders and for Valentine’s Day alone, they took 150 orders on that one day.
Charlie continued: “I am delighted with how popular our takeaway service has been. We were aware that we could struggle with this to begin with as we were an unknown business in the area. However, the local community have been so supportive of us and it has shown how so many people have missed the pub experience. We offer classic pub dishes, cooked using only fresh and locally-sourced ingredients. Since our takeaways have been so well-received, we are going to keep them for the foreseeable future, even after we open our doors.
“We are planning on reopening our pub garden on 12 April, so we are pushing ahead with the new patio area. The new bar that is being built will mean that we can easily cater for our customers as soon as Government restrictions allow.”
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