The Brewery & Red Lion Tap House in Market Drayton, Shropshire, a Joule’s Brewery property, has won the National Pub Design Award in the Refurbishment category. The accolade is awarded by CAMRA and English Heritage to celebrate the best examples of refurbishment and conservation of public houses.
Joule’s Brewery’s Steve Nuttall comments: “The values that the Joule’s brand embraces is key to our success. The brewery and its tap, The Red Lion, is a high-profile craft brewery in Market Drayton, a place that everyone in the town knows, visits and is proud of. With a compelling story behind Joule’s – first brewed by monks and the 6th oldest trade mark in the world – our beer is only sold locally into pubs. It is not a national product, it is not flogged into pubs wherever they will take it, we strategically select its destination. The beer will never be bottled, it will always only be available in cask.”
Joule’s Brewery in Market Drayton, which was purpose built in 2010, is formed from high-quality natural material, complete with a malt tower, state-of-the-art plant and a large, oak-panelled reception hall with architectural history. Known as the Mouseroom, the hall features Mouseman panelling heads that formally formed part of the boardroom from the Bradford offices of the mail order company, Freeman Grattan Holdings. It has now become a focal feature in the Joule’s Brewery refurbishment.
In addition to the seven of Robert Thompson’s famous trademark carved mice, a number of humorous touches were incorporated into the design, including a unique nodding mouse at the end of the of the inglenook seats and two carved heads, one depicting a devil poking his tongue out, the other as a monk with eyes shut, suggesting slumber.
The brewery proudly presents an estate of 17 remarkable and beautifully restores pubs, each unique, each special, each famous in its locality, the best in the area, each inspiring customer loyalty because it is a Joule’s Brewery Tap. Joule’s concentrate on the best of the ‘English Pub Tradition’, preserving and combining a fresh approach to offering a quality pub relevant in today’s market. Each pub ‘A Brewery Tap House’ sells and promotes its own real ales, each the very best it can be and each worthy of the very best effort. The Tap Houses are all very comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, with quality levels and style echoing the Brewery.
Each Tap has real fires, snugs, good quality products with the emphasis on great ale, good wine, good coffee. The Tap House food menu’s are no nonsense, yet tempting and tasty, using quality ingredients, locally sourced where possible, simply prepared, presented well and served quickly.
Trudie Meredith of Joule’s Brewery, “the Joule’s culture is untouchable, we are completely customer focused, and have a ‘can do’, ‘will do’ philosophy, very generous in spirit, more than fair and accepting of criticism. We are brand focused, cost conscious, informal yet extremely professional and full of energy”.
“These exceptional qualities and values, coupled with all the basics, like a clean pub, a friendly landlord, facilitating sociability throughout the pub, be it with chit chat, banter, games, activities and entertainment all appropriate the pub and locality can enable a pub to weather the current storm and remain at the heart of a community
However there is no doubt that the pub industry is going through significant change and contrary to public belief, it’s not all due to the state of the economy.
As we all know pubs have been hit hard by the current recession, with lower levels of disposable income leading to a drop in customer numbers. This, couples with the drop in price of alcohol in supermarkets and the higher taxes on alcohol sold in pubs, not to mention the continued effects off the smoking ban, is conspiring to encourage many people to drink at home, rather than visit their local.”
Pubs may also be struggling based upon their geographical location, a factor that can be incredibly hard to rectify. Pubs located on the outskirts of towns, neither in the city centre nor in the heart of a village, are finding it increasingly hard to gain passing trade. Joule’s has actively sourced pubs that are at the heart of a community or town, centre to its customer roots.
