Needham Market pub The Swan opens its doors after major refurbishment
The new owners of a refurbished pub which has been shut since July are preparing to welcome customers today.
The Swan, in Needham Market, will welcome customers from midday to take a look at a reworked beer garden, a heated and covered terrace, an extended bar and brand new furniture.
New owners Matt Coleman, 35, and Ysobel Hellon-Warwick, 28, are looking forward to running the pub as part of a Hive partnership with Greene King.
Matt said: “It’s been a very surreal couple of weeks but it finally started hitting a couple of days ago what we’ve all achieved working with Greene King.
“We’ve had so much interest from people passing by and they all seem to be really excited about the pub reopening.
“Some of the interactions of social media have been really positive too.
“We really want to speak to people as much as we can to find out what they want from us and how we can tailor that to their needs.”
The Swan will be open today from 12pm to 11pm and food will be served from 12pm to 3pm and also at 5pm until 9pm.
The grand opening will also see a live DJ set from 8pm to 10pm.
Customers will find two new feature walls that display a historic map of the town from the 1800s and also an homage to chemist Joseph Priestly who was an assistant to the minister at a dissenting chapel in Needham Market.
A new children’s play area has also been added - however this will not be functional until the turf has completely been set in a couple of weeks.
Matt said that once The Swan has been open for a few weeks, the team will then start to host regular events like darts, pool, quiz nights, karaoke, bingo and live music.
He is particularly keen to launch Greene King’s lunchtime seniors’ menu which offers people aged 60 and over discounted food and drinks.
“We’re thinking of having someone come down and play 50s and 60s music to tie it in with the seniors’ deal,” Matt said.
“It’s like a golden-oldies kind of thing - we want to try and involve everybody as much as we can.
“We just can’t wait to get going with everything, we’re really excited.”
