Female-led pub Flowerhouse opens in Marylebone

Called Flowerhouse in Marylebone, located next door to Chiltern Firehouse, it is a female-led pub from from Jo Jackson, previously chief creative officer at MADE.COM, and the group behind The Light Bar in Shoreditch.

Its aim is to empower women in the industry and support women from all backgrounds and ages get their first (or returning) step on the hospitality ladder.

Apprenticeships and training schemes will be offered for roles ranging from chefs and bartenders to floor staff and managers, with flexible working hours encouraged for mothers returning to work. Key elements of the brand are overseen by women, which the founders say aims to help balance a ‘traditionally masculine-heavy industry’.

The pub has launched with a bar food menu but will introduce and an all-day dining menu from January that is described as giving ‘a fresh, flexitarian twist’ on a classic pub food. Further spaces will also open upstairs, including a dining room and two floor ‘Insta-apartment’.

“We’re super passionate to revive this classic pub that not only is a space where a woman should feel entirely comfortable having a drink there on their own, but somewhere that can hopefully help make a difference in an industry still predominately run by men,” says Jackson.

“The idea for a female-led team breathing fresh air into old British pubs came from working with amazingly talented women in hospitality and using our privileged location in London to provide a platform to inspire and support others.

"Right now, the sector is majorly lacking human resource, especially women, who currently represent less than one in five (17%) chefs working in the UK (ONS-2018).

"We want to create an inclusive environment for female talent at Flowerhouse, but beyond our new venue, so much more needs to be done to ensure that roles are structured to be accessible for women throughout their careers.”