New lease of life: Telford pub set to reopen as team reveal exciting plans
A Telford pub is set to reopen with a new look in the coming weeks, with its licensees excited at the prospect of bringing it back to the heart of the community.
The vacant Plough at Allscott is being given a new lease of life by Nick Shuker, son Dylan and Gavin Kelly.
The trio were thrilled to be offered the lease by owner Malcolm Challoner and say they are relishing the chance to turn the pub's fortunes around, with plans for it to have an 80 per cent focus as a restaurant.
They will be supported by chef Robyn Farr, who Nick says has been a 'driving force' behind progress made so far, 'working her socks off to make it a success'.
Nick said: "I am a bit of a romantic and would love to turn this pub into something special.
"It's been stood vacant and, when Gavin and I saw that, it played on our minds.
"Gavin has pushed it a lot. It's something different to what I have ever done in the past but Gavin and I, who have been friends forever, have chatted about it. He set up a meeting with Malcolm and it went from there."
He added: "I think we want to make a difference. Everywhere you drive, you see small pubs that have closed down and have their windows boarded up.
"It's not right. Of course, it has been difficult since Covid and a lot has changed but we believe this can work.
"We want to turn this pub into a local community place and do our best to give it a good reputation, with great food that people will remember and will want to come back for more."
The pub has required a 'hell of a lot of work' to be done internally but Nick is hopeful of opening in the next six weeks.
"We are aiming at four to six weeks at the minute and we have had a lot of interest from the local community," he said. "They all want it open tomorrow!"
"It's going to take more time than that though as it has been left a while so the walls and plastering have not been in a great place, plus there are things like the electrics.
"There's been a lot of dirty work to do, clearing out and getting it up to scratch but we are excited.
"We want to give it a nice, country vibe. We asked people on social media and they want something of quality and home-cooked food, so that's the remit we will be going for.
"We are teasing little things here and there about our plans and we want to make people aware we are looking to reopen. We are ready to get it up and running again."
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