There’s a renewed sense of optimism with Sharon and Simon Colgan at the Worlds End pub in Knaresborough.
The couple have owned the premises since 2006 and the changes they are making represent years of learning, turning their home and pub into something that just works so much better for them and the customer. It’s a project taking full advantage of the enforced closure due to lockdown.
Simon Colgan, co-owner of Worlds End said:
We came to the World End initially on a lease and were luck enough to buy it in April.
The refurbishment has been in our heads since that time.
Over those years we have been able to see where the business is strong, where it is weak and how we need to be better.
We have learnt over those years, where we need more space or more availability.
We identified very early on that was that the outside area is our strong point, we demolished a garage and added a conservatory for extra seating, but essentially the joys of here are the river, sitting outside and views across the river – the calmness and beauty of where it is.
We are looking to make our outdoor area as strong and as big as we possibly can. When the sun comes out, the people come out and one of our biggest problems has been having to turn people away.
Although the changes are significant with all the outside area currently a building site, they plan on retaining the character of the pub, just make it work better.
Simon said:
It’s very much a traditional pub and that’s how we like it to be, and we think that is what people want for a riverside pub.
With this change we are hopefully going to fix all our problems in one go!
We do a lot of food and we are going to carry on doing that, just with more gluten free and vegetarian options.
This development will help us seat an extra 60 inside and an extra 60 outside.
The development is currently a building site and likely to be complete by March.
Simon said:
We have demolished the old conservatory, demolished the old toilets and have now nearly finished digging out under the decking.
There will be a decking with a steel frame with decking on top. A neighbour is removing a large tree, so that means it will give amazing views across the river.
We hope to be done towards mid-March and will then open when they allow us to open.
The extra space will also allow for a return to live music, something that was difficult given the space while serving food.
Best of luck with the project.
Sounds great 👍 good luck