It took Sam and Mike Loveridge EIGHT years to get behind the bar of The Stag at Barkston. Let's find out why...
It’s hardly a secret that if you apply to run an Everards pub, the interview process is what you might politely describe as ‘thorough.’. But that’s not the reason why it took Sam and Mike Loveridge EIGHT years to get behind the bar of The Stag at Barkston, a lovely little country pub they’ve made their own on the outskirts of picturesque Grantham. Their story is a story of patience, good fortune - and finding a pub they love so much they can’t ever imagine leaving.
Sam, 48, and Mike, 50, met and fell in love working in a restaurant. They worked in the catering trade - usually together, Sam front-of-house, mainly; Mike an award-winning chef but always happy to be behind the scenes - for large parts of their lives together.
In quiet moments, they often wondered what it would be like to have their own pub.
So back in 2006, they rang Everards to look into the possibility of running a pub. They were interviewed. They liked Everards and Everards liked them. Numerous pubs were lined up for their perusal. Meetings were arranged - and then Sam and Mike started to have second thoughts.
“We had three teenage children with exams looming and it just seemed like too big a step to take at quite an important family time,” says Sam.
They politely backed away. The pub dream, for the time being at least, was over.
Fast forward to 2014 and with their children all grown up and in work or at university, and with Sam fearing empty nest syndrome - “I really didn’t want that,” she says, “I’ve seen normal women go doolally when their kids leave home” - they got back in touch with Everards.
“And they remembered us. They still had all of our details on file - our pictures, interview notes, everything, it was all still there,” says Sam.
They were interviewed again. The process picked up more-or-less where they left it eight years ago.
We found a pub that we love so much, we can’t ever imagine leaving!
“I think it was a pretty good match really,” she says. “Everards wanted us, and we wanted to go with them.” All they needed to do was find the right pub.
Except finding the right pub is like finding the right house. It’s “hard to describe” says Sam, “but you know it HAS to feel right.”
The Stag at Barkston was the last pub they saw. It looked like a beautiful, traditional, old country pub from the outside - but it didn’t look like that when you walked through the door. The Stag had seen better days.
“We didn’t fall in love with what it was - we fell in love with what we thought it could be,” says Mike. The Stag is not situated near a big conurbation. “We knew we had to do something different with it, and make it more about good food - and we wanted to do that immediately.”
In that first week, Sam and Mike wrote a letter to everyone in the village: introducing themselves, their children and outlining their plans for the pub. They invited everyone to a big opening party.
“And they came - they all came,” says Sam. “It was a lovely night and people gave us their best wishes - and countless jars of home-made marmalade, too, ha, ha.”
Slowly, the pub started to change. It was tastefully refurbished so the simple splendour of the exterior was matched inside.
“It’s taken us three years,” says Mike, “but I think we’ve done it. We’re happy with how it looks.”
A new menu was introduced. A wood burner was fitted. The bar was revamped. Word started to spread that The Stag was a nicer pub and the food was good. Trade increased very quickly, says Mike.
“I think we saw takings double in the first three or four weeks,” he says.
It’s not been plain sailing. They’ve had to spend a lot of money inside the pub’s small but now perfectly-equipped kitchen. “And I think every time I go shopping I seem to come back with a new cushion or an ornament for the pub,” says Sam.
But The Stag is what they imagined it could be when they first entered in March 2014.
“I know some people will get to this point and then they get itchy feet and they want another challenge,” says Sam.
“But not us. This is what we always wanted - and now we’ve got it. We’ve put our heart and soul into this pub - and I think people can see that. It’s the best thing we ever did, so we want to stay on and enjoy it.”
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