New landlords on mission to improve reputation of Chesterfield pub

Drew Jenkin-Haymond and his wife Martine took hold of the reins at the Three Horseshoes in Brimington back in December and since then have taken action to restore it to the heart of the community.

The pair, who are originally from South Wales, say they have seen a revival with more customers frequenting the establishment and old customers returning.

Drew, 63, who explained the Three Horseshoes has a bit of a chequered history, said: “We’ve taken it from being shut to doing in excess of £4,000 to £5,000 a week.

"I actually ran a labour club in the docks of Newport for two years so I’m used to rough places. Even though I might be 63, I’m quite fit and so is Martine and we’ve literally had to throw 25 people out on lifetime bans.”

The couple faced an attempted robber last week.

Drew said: “A guy came in only a week or so ago with a stanley knife and said ‘I’m not looking at you I’m looking at the till’. Martine said ‘I hope you’re going to run fast’.”

He added: "We've got a lot of loyal customers who have been coming here, some even around 62 years and there’s one who said our John Smith’s is like champagne.

"I’m finding we’re getting new customers too.

"One couple came for just one drink as they’d never been but stayed the rest of the night and celebrated their birthday.”

Drew and Martine joined the hospitality industry around four years ago and have previously been at the helm of pubs in Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Milford Haven and Abergavenny.

They say the reception from Brimington residents has been ‘brilliant’ and that the transformations so far have been very well received.

"We’ve set up a disco unit, we have karoake on Friday and a disco, once a month we have an artist,” Drew added.

"A lady came in this morning before we opened and said it smelled beautiful.

"That’s down to cleaning. A local builder has done some remedial work and we’re busy cleaning up the front car park and in the near future it will be decked out.

"We work for Hawthorns, they’ve been bought out by Admiral and on the 10th I’ll be taking over as the tenant, so that means they were really happy with what we’ve done to change it.

“We’re also doing a lot for the local church, we’ve given food and I’ve done a sponsored silence for two hours. We’re doing everything we can to make people feel comfortable to and make people realise that both Martine and I really mean it.”