A pair of catering and hospitality entrepreneurs in Trowbridge are about to expand their burgeoning pub and café business by taking on their fifth outlet in the local area.
Tom and Ben Morgan, who opened BeeTees Café & Bar in Market Street four years ago, have signed a lease with Star Pubs & Bars to manage The Courthouse pub in nearby Castle Street.
The pair already run BeeTees Café at County Hall, as well as the Wiltshire Yeoman in Chilmark Road, Trowbridge, and the Canal Tavern in Frome Road, Bradford on Avon.
But they have denied they are “empire-building” and say they are merely exploiting opportunities with the potential to grow their business.
They said: “We just love Trowbridge town centre. When we came here in 2013, there were so many more pubs open in the town centre and we want to bring that back.”
The pair are currently talking to Star Pubs & Bars about a new investment in The Courthouse designed to further modernise the public areas and refurbish the residential flat above.
Tom said: “We took on the pub about a week ago but it needs a deep clean and some tender loving care.
“We are talking to the brewery company about putting a large investment into the property to bring it up to standard. I personally would not like to serve people as it is.”
Tom and Ben hope to bring back the pub’s pool and darts teams, as it has a pool table and a darts board.
They also plan to serve “good solid food at decent prices” as well as cask ales and to bring back live music to the venue at weekends.
“We wanted to get a live music venue as that’s something that we don’t have at the moment.
“We would like to get live music in there every weekend, especially in the town centre as a lot of people like to go out on a Friday night.”
The Courthouse - formerly known as Ye Olde Farmhouse and one of the oldest pubs in the town - was fully refurbished in 2016.
Star Pubs & Bars was looking for a management team that could make the most of the "fantastic potential" offered by its “excellent high street location”.
Gavin Way, the company’s business development manager, said: “We are in the initial stages of probably making a £50,000-£80,000 investment for new signage and to put the building right.
“I think The Courthouse has been a little bit unloved since the refurbishment and has not been very appealing to ingoing lessees.
“We are hoping that Tom and Ben can turn it into an exuberant pub for all the community, ranging from coffees in the morning to live sport, and really engaging with the community.”
Tom and Ben run their business as a partnership, with help from operations manager Jemma Howarth, and staff work at all their locations.
They are refurbishing BeeTees Café & Bar after taking on the premises four years ago, saying they need to update the décor and the bar area.
They have also recently had repairs done to the roof at the Wiltshire Yeoman and its bar floor area stripped back and sanded.
The Canal Tavern will also see some modernisation and outside improvements made before the summer comes, with help from its owners Wadworth Brewery.
Tom and Ben added: “We hope to open The Courthouse in the next two weeks, hopefully by the end of the month.
“But we are not rushing. We have got an ideal date for the opening but we are not going to open before it is ready.
“We want to make sure that the property is up to the standard that we want.”
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