PUB bosses have committed themselves to an “evolving” Bournemouth town centre with an impressive six-figure revamp.
Brewhouse and Kitchen in The Triangle has undergone a £120,000 refresh more in line with a traditional pub and is now called The Branksome Craft House.
Kris Gumbrell, the Bournemouth-based chief executive of Brewhouse and Kitchen, said he thought of “doing something brave, a little bit different” to what it has been for the past seven years.
He said he has recognised Bournemouth town centre as “evolving”, noting the opening of new businesses has given it a new lease of life.
Mr Gumbrell said: “We had a small fire there last year which set us back a little bit and we have taken stock of the changes with the town.
“The craft beer is maturing now as a brand, as a concept. It's still very strong. The craft beer now is built into the offer; it's not as big a disruptor as it once was.
“So we took the view of that site that it needed to adapt and change because the town centre has adapted and changed, too.
“It's always been a bit of a strange layout for us because we kind of squeezed a little brewery into the ground floor and that made the ground floor quite tight.”
Initial feedback has been positive, Mr Gumbrell said, with plans to expand the new Craft House branding across other sites in the UK – with London seeing change after Christmas.
And the pub will continue to support good causes in the area, including this Friday's Fox Strut where it will end at Branksome Craft House.
Before Brewhouse and Kitchen took over the Triangle site with its £1.2million transformation, the site was home to the Branksome Arms – its name still displayed at the top of the building.
“We decided to go back to using the Branksome name, but underpin it with a new concept called Craft House, and Bournemouth will be the first place we've tried this within the UK,” Mr Gumbrell added.
“The good thing about Bournemouth is we have got very aspirational, very good demographics but these high streets are changing and evolving.
“I’ve sat down with the council, too, and I can see that they’re trying with the town centre and we’re seeing a lot of positive things.
“So we thought we'll commit to the site, give it a fresh identity and go back to the roots of The Branksome Arms.
“We've always been very popular with LGBTQ market as well – they have been really positive about these changes. But this is a pub for everybody.”
He added: “There will be plenty of craft beer, a brand new cocktail offer and brand new food offer as well. We’re very excited and optimistic for the future here.”
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