A PUB with a history of complaints, disorder and licence loss has been taken over and transformed by new management.
Now, The New Inn in Amesbury will be reopening to the public today, May 9, as a “friendly, family pub with a country vibe”.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for the new team however, with the month-long refurbishment costing around £28,000.
Ashley Brindley of company One Dream, which bought the building, said the condition of The New Inn and how it was left was “disgusting”, adding it was “full of rubbish” with “a rotten bar”.
He said the team had to “rip the place apart” and removed more than 300 bottles of urine from the site, adding: “How someone didn’t die in there I do not know.
“We just had to throw away everything and put it all back together.”
The New Inn, formerly run by Nathan Muirhead, of the now liquidated Tiki Events Ltd., had lost its licence earlier this year due to frequent police reports and complaints about noise, antisocial behaviour and violence.
With the fresh licence granted at the end of March, Mr Brindley hopes the measures he has enforced – including no live music, fencing off the car park, an increase in CCTV and a ‘barred-from-one-barred-from-all’ policy – will tackle concerns raised by the force and residents.
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New assistant manager Iona Lloyd said that since The New Inn’s closure in the new year, there had been “a noticeable change in attitudes and behaviour” across the town, and she assures the revised New Inn will not affect this.
She said: “We want this to be a relaxing night – you don’t need to shout to be heard, you can bring your mum and dad without that rowdiness, you don’t have to fight your way through [to be served] – just a calm, happy atmosphere.”
“We’re so excited to show everyone what we’ve done to the place,” Mr Brindley added, “we just want a friendly, family pub with a country vibe.
“It hasn’t been nice turning this around, we could have just left it and run, but we knew we had to do something. The town needs this.”
The Mayor of Amesbury and town councillors will be part of the opening ceremony today.
Other changes to the premises include shutting off the back garden but keeping the court yard open, a new menu with “proper pub grub” and exclusive drinks, and a change in décor and colour scheme.
New landlord Hannah Burden said: “I’m nervous but excited, I’ve got an amazing team behind me and everyone is going to love all the changes we have made.”
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