One of Worcestershire’s landmark pubs has been relaunched as a new hub for artisan food and drink, with a bespoke smokery as one of its main features.
The transformation of The Crown in Martley is the inspiration of three entrepreneurial brothers Andy, Robin and Chris Conway who have a talent for business success.
Together, they own ARCC, a successful Birmingham-based communications business, established eight years ago and now employing over 100 staff, where “future thinking and innovation” is their trademark.
They have invested a significant six figure sum in the village pub, now known as The Crown by ARCC, which includes a trendy new dining experience via a smokery and a focus on classic English style, with locally sourced, premium quality meat, ales and wines.
It was a mutual love of food that persuaded the brothers to buy the pub three months ago and they have a big appetite for success.
Robin Conway lives next door to the pub and his brothers Andy and Chris also live in the area.
Managing director Robin Conway said: “It has been an ambition to launch a pub restaurant for five years as we all love good food and great hospitality, and so it was very fortunate to find an opportunity literally on our doorstep.
“We want to establish The Crown by ARCC as a pub of distinction and a new hub for artisan food and drink. “The pub has undergone a major renovation, but we were determined from the outset that we were not simply going to reopen one of the area’s much loved pubs.
“We want it to be so much more. Our ambition is for The Crown by ARCC to become a ‘destination’ food house and to have a national reputation as the best smokehouse around.
“And we also want the residents of Martley to feel that this is their local ‘clubhouse’. We will be doing our very best to support the local community and of course, the reopening has already created 15 jobs,” he said.
It’s their first pub venture and their aim is to bring a touch of the latest London food trend in smoked dining to Worcestershire.
Robin added: “We want our reputation to be that if it says it’s ‘by ARCC,’ it’ll be great. And we want it to be a blueprint for others.”
Their commitment to sourcing local produce even extends to rearing their own pigs in the pub’s apple orchard. The launch fare features an earthy artisan menu with highlights including The Riggers Platter – a nod to their ARCC business – and Boerewors sausage, a type of sausage very popular in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
And the drinks menu is equally rustic. Focus is very much on real English and quality, with English ales and ciders. But it’s the smokery that’s their real point of difference, which is to their own design and build.
Robin said: “We hope that The Crown by ARCC will be a blueprint for a brand that we can roll out regionally and ultimately nationally and we are already considering other sites.”
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