Stars Pubs & Bars opens training pub

The Eagles Corner, which has been transformed from a wet-led local to a family-friendly pub, will also be used to trial new technology, services and products for the Star brand.

The operator selected the pub as it is considered to be a mainstream high street pub in need of investment to fill its potential. Star undertook a full refurbishment of the property and trade has since more than doubled.

Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars, said that they deliberately chose an ‘ordinary high street pub’ for the project that the chain could learn from, rather than one of their more ‘desirable’ properties.

“Two years ago we promised licensees that Star would take on and run a pub to get closer to the business and gain first-hand experience of the issues faced by licensees and the opportunities available to them.  We’ve now done it, having been thwarted on a number of occasions by licensees wanting to take on the pubs we were interested in,” he said.

“We’ve got off to a good start with trade building all the time and have had a great Christmas and New Year.  The Eagles Corner has gone from a pub with no food offer to serving 3000 pizzas in three months.  However, given the role of the Eagles Corner, it is and will always continue to be work in progress.”