The Spread Eagle pub in Brentwood has undergone a £270,000 refurbishment in recent months, and I was pleased to be invited by the manager, Craig Newbury, and his boss, Jon Dale from Punch Pubs and Co., to visit the premises earlier this month to find out how the business is doing.
The Spread Eagle is on Queen’s Road at the back of St Thomas’s Church and is a popular haunt for Brentwood town centre workers who can walk through the church graveyard from the High Street for a lunchtime drink, an evening out at the end of the week or as a stop off on the walk down to Brentwood station at the end of the day. It seems the increase in the numbers of people working from home has also helped trade, with Thursday and Friday night socialising taking place in the local pub, rather up in the City.
The last three years have been tough for the pub trade, with a lengthy pandemic shut down followed by various tiers of Covid rules about social distancing and being limited to a pint with snack or more.
As with all businesses, the increase in energy costs came just as all Covid restrictions were lifted and this has had a significant impact on business costs. It was very helpful to be able to hear from Jon and Craig about the outlook for the sector, how government support has helped it over the past few years, and the challenges it faces in the months ahead.
Naturally, I had to partake in the traditional ‘MP Pulls Pint in Pub’ picture (with my pint pulling skills attracting polite derision from the professionals). I will stick to draft bills, not draught beer.
