‘We want to work with the community to give them a pub they deserve’

There have been a number of claims made about our business, Zazu’s Kitchen Pubs, and our intentions for the Sugar Loaf pub on St Mark’s Road in Easton, were we to become the operators there, which are wholly untrue.

It is lazy and glib to paint us as some corporate behemoth. It is simply not the case. But never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

It is not, and never has been, our intention to “completely gut the building”. It is a building with beautiful Edwardian features so why remove them? The simple fact is that the landlords Star Pubs, who bought the site last year, will be refurbishing the pub whoever is landlord.

But have agreed to work with us on a scheme which many former customers have told us they would like to see and which we believe is very sympathetic to the building.

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Read more: The Bristol Cable: A passionate appeal to save one of the few working class pubs in Easton

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Equally untrue is the claim we will be doing a clone of our nearby pub the Greenbank. It makes no sense whatsoever to operate an identical concept a few streets away. We do not operate a cookie-cutter, corporate approach to our sites. The complete reverse.

All our pubs are designed and set out to meet the needs of the community they serve. They are all very different. But they share common values.

We are a collection of pubs, not a chain company. We are also independent, a company born in Bristol, employing the community and serving the community.

All our pubs were previously failing or failed sites which we have revived or rescued and turned into hugely popular and well received social hubs which our regulars love and are proud of. Go and check them out!

The Greenbank was taken over by Zazu’s Kitchen Pubs in 2013

The Greenbank is a great example of us investing back into the community. In 2013, after huge local support and some 4,000 signatures from the community of Easton, Zazu’s stepped in and took over the Greenbank, which was at risk of being turned into flats.

An Asset of Community Value was put in place, and over the past five years, and after huge investment, the pub has grown into a true community pub, shaped by the communities wants and needs.

It operates in excess of 250 events per year, supporting local artists, musicians, community groups, charities and more. In that time it has won several awards, including most recently Best Pub in the 2018 Crumbs Awards, with judges citing: “This pub is truly at the heart of the community… a perfect local.”

We first became aware of the petition to save the Sugar Loaf in December 2018. It had been shut down and we felt we could make a valuable contribution in helping shape and secure its future; and we certainly want to include the opinions of the community in that process.

We have already consulted with regulars and will also be hosting a community meeting held in the event space at the Greenbank as soon as is possible to open up a forum for discussion about the future of the pub, and the operation within.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to hear for themselves the truth about what we are proposing; and to have their say in shaping the future of the Sugar Loaf.

We are not here to “trample over people” as has been unfairly suggested, but to work with the community to give them the kind of place they desire and deserve.

Chris Nelson is a director of Zazu’s Kitchen Pubs (full disclosure: Bristol24/7 consultant publisher Dougal Templeton is also a director), whose pubs across Bristol are the Greenbank, the Knowle, the Grace, the Westbury Park and the Alma Tavern

Read more: Parrot, pickled eggs and smiley people on wish-list for Easton pub