Meet new landlord hoping to bring 'community feel' to historic Shrewsbury pub

There is a new landlord at a historic pub in Shrewsbury.

Daniel Hallas, from West Yorkshire, is the new boss at The King’s Head, Mardol, Shrewsbury.

The historic pub is well-known for the 15th-century wall painting of the Last Supper that is located on an old chimney breast inside the establishment.

The artwork was found during a refurbishment in the late 1980s.

Star Pubs brewery owns the pub, but the tenants of the King’s Head are a group called Sheldon Inns.

This group handed over the management reins of The King’s Head to Daniel at the end of August.

Daniel’s takeover, from when he first saw the opportunity advertised, to him moving in, was completed within a matter of weeks last month.

Asked about what attracted him to the pub, the new landlord joked: “Have you seen the building? It is absolutely amazing.”

He added: “I just loved it, and I thought, let’s give it a go”.

Daniel has worked in the pub business for some time.

In recent years, he has done a lot of transition work, he explained.

He has been taking over pubs that had bad reputations and problems to turn them around before handing them back over to breweries or owners.

But now, Daniel has decided he wants a permanent pub to run , and The King’s Head is his choice of establishments.

Talking about his big plans for the pub’s future, Daniel said: “I want to get it quite stable first of all and settle in.”

He added: “There has been a lot to do - it is hard work. But what I am wanting to do is really get a bit of a community feel going - get some events on.”

Daniel told the Shropshire Star that he wants the pub to host more live music, such as open mic nights.

He also suggested that he is interested in launching a quiz night on Tuesdays because he believes there is a gap in the market locally for such events.

The new landlord is also a trained chef, and so he plans to make food a major new staple of the historic watering hole.