The Royal George Tavern on Main Street in Shildon is set to officially reopen on Friday 8th August following a transformational investment of more than £340,000.
The pub is part of Proper Pubs, the award-winning community wet-led operator division of Admiral Taverns, which operates more than 200 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales.
Behind the bar are passionate community heroes Beth Finch and her partner Lee, who have been the operators of The Royal George for just over a year.
Beth has always loved hospitality and the diverse nature of the industry so after spending nine years as a member of staff at the pub, she decided to make the leap and take it over.
Lee is a popular member of the community with a passion for sports and has set up four pool teams at the pub – of which he is the captain – and is also a super league player.
Moving forward, the pair is excited to build on the existing offering, thanks to the refurbishment, and cement The Royal George at the heart of the community.
Inside, the pub will be completely transformed to include a brand-new bar area and games room – complete with an Omni Target dart board and professional grade pool table – and multiple flat screen televisions featuring Sky, TNT Sports and horse racing channels.
As part of the investment, the pub will also boast brand new flooring, fixtures, fittings and furniture to elevate the overall look and feel of The Royal George.
Outside, the pub hosts brand new lighting and signage to greet customers as well as a newly revamped, spacious beer garden – seating up to 50 people – with atmospheric festoon lighting to enjoy during the warmer months.
The Royal George will officially reopen to the community at 6pm on Friday 8th August and to celebrate will host an exciting evening of live entertainment and a fizz reception.
This will be followed by a performance from local singing band, Mad Manners, at 7.30pm.
The pub will offer a wide range of drinks promotions, including Wine Wednesday, where customers can get £2 off a bottle, Fizz Friday, offering customers a bottle of fizz for £10, along with cocktails, bottle and shot deals throughout the week.
Beth Finch, Operator of The Royal George Tavern, said: “It’s been a really exciting journey bringing our vision for the pub to life and I can’t wait to see the final look in a couple of weeks’ time – it’s already looking fantastic!
“Lee and I have loved our time at the helm of The Royal George so far and this investment will be instrumental in helping us to evolve the pub’s offering to ensure it can continue acting as the go-to social hub for the area and bringing people together for years to come.”
On top of the fantastic drink’s selection, the operators will host a busy schedule of regular entertainment including live music and DJ sets every weekend, pool and darts teams on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Wednesday craft clubs and bingo nights every Thursday.
Since taking over The Royal George, Beth and Lee have – and will continue to – collected food to donate to a local foodbank and have raised enough money to have a lifesaving defibrillator installed.
Going forward, they plan to run fundraising events for local charity, Tiny Lives Trust, that supports premature and sick newborns and their families.
Nikki Greenhalgh, Operations Director for Proper Pubs, said: “It’s been a joy having Beth and Lee at The Royal George and I’m delighted to see how well the refurbishment is progressing.
“We’re currently getting the last few finishing touches sorted before we reopen to the community on Friday 8th August.
“On behalf of myself and the Proper Pubs team, I would like to thank Beth and Lee for all their hard work at The Royal George to date and I wish them the very best of luck for their big reopening night!”
Proper Pubs is always looking for ways to support its communities through an annual schedule of events and fundraising initiatives and in March 2024, it was crowned Community Pub Operator at the Publican Awards.
Most recently, the Group collected over 20,000 Easter Eggs to donate to communities in need and raised nearly £100,000 in just three months for various local charities across the UK.
Last year, Proper Pubs also successfully donated enough food to local foodbanks across the UK to feed 1,300 people for a week and has also been recognised UK-wide defibrillator installation campaign which has already saved 11 lives.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
