North West multiple operator, Blind Tiger Inns, has opened The Cross Keys at Barnoldswick in Lancashire follow a four week closure for a £245k investment with Star Pubs & Bars.
The pub is Blind Tiger Inns’ thirteenth site and its twelfth with Star. The work has transformed a tired pub into an outstanding local with a new sports and games room and all weather garden providing points of difference in the area.
Outside, the pub’s exterior has been restored and repainted. A stunning eighty-seater garden has been developed at the back of the pub with new furniture and planning as well as awnings, heaters and lighting to enable year-round use.
The Cross Keys interior has been fully refurbished and updated in keeping with its traditional appearance retaining original beams, exposing flag stone floors and reinstating a real fire.
New booth and group seating makes the refreshed pub a comfortable place for different groups to socialise and the community to come together. Sky and BT Sports have been installed and the pub’s second lounge converted into a games room complete with a pool table, darts boards and big screens for sports viewing.
Blind Tiger Inns is looking to further expand its estate in the North West with its current structure enabling it to grow to 20 sites. Its acquisition requirements are for leased pubs in high street and estate locations that are suitable for trading as quality community locals offering value, entertainment and sports.
Blind Tiger Inns Managing Director, Chris Tulloch said, 'Leasing pubs, either on FRI or shorter term agreements, works for us and, with a good pub company partner, provides valuable support with training, marketing and business development.
'The community market is sometimes overlooked by leased operators but, in our experience, this sector has real potential to deliver strong returns and profits. The key is to give people what they want from their local – an attractive and stylish comfortable environment, quality across the board and a great place to socialise and have fun.'
Star Pubs & Bars operations director, David Pritchard added, “Blind Tiger Inns has a real understanding of their target customers and what they want and are committed to exceeding their expectations. They are proof that the great British local continues to thrive when it adapts in line with customers’ changing demands.”
Blind Tiger Inns estate includes five pubs in Lancashire. Star Pubs & Bars is investing £3.6 million in reviving local pubs across the county in 2017.