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8th August 2012

The Flower Pot Blossoms For Absolute Pubs

Absolute Pubs has continued its expansion with the recent opening of the Flower Pot in Sunbury-on-Thames, following a £250,000 makeover.

Award-wining licensees Simon and Sarah Bailey now operate four Absolute pubs around the Middlesex/Surrey border. Their latest venture has been funded jointly with landlord Brakspear.

Along with the revamped bar and restaurant, the Flower Pot’s eight en-suite letting rooms have been refurbished to high standards to create a boutique hotel ambience. The pub will be offering Absolute’s winning formula of freshly-cooked food, quality drinks, high service standards and a relaxed atmosphere.

Stonebaked gourmet pizzas have been introduced as a USP for the Flower Pot, offered alongside dishes from other Absolute sites including pub classics, salads and sharing boards as well as steaks and burgers from prime Oxfordshire cattle. The drinks range includes wines, Brakspear cask ales, teas and coffees.

Absolute Pubs director Simon Bailey said: “With the opening of our fourth pub, we are firmly establishing the Absolute brand as a byword for quality pubs with high standards of customer service, while maintaining the quirkiness and unique character of each individual pub.

“At the Flower Pot, there’s a bistro feel to the restaurant area, alongside a welcoming local pub atmosphere in the main bar, which differentiates it from our other pubs, while retaining the core Absolute values.”

The Flower Pot will employ 12 people including Joe Dowler, who is being promoted to general manager after two years with Absolute. The company’s training and career development programme has taken Dowler from barman to assistant manager at the Bell Inn, to the King’s Arms to understand the accommodation side of the business, to his first pub.

In similar vein, Absolute recently made Marius Wyrebski its executive chef after three years with the company. He has created the gourmet pizza range at the Flower Pot and takes overall responsibility for menu development across the group.

 

Caption to attached image: Joe Dowler, general manager of the Flower Pot; Sarah & Simon Bailey, Absolute Pubs directors

 

Notes to editors:

·         The Kings Arms, Hampton Court (Hall & Woodhouse):  Absolute Pubs’ first site, in August 2008. Traditional, 300-year-old pub perched at the Liongate of Hampton Court Palace.  Function room and 10 bedrooms.

·         The Bell, Hampton (Punch Taverns): Thameside gastropub, refurbished in 2010 when Absolute Pubs took on the pub. Function room with river views hosts regular events including comedy nights.

·         Waggon & Horses, Surbiton (Young’s): an Absolute Pub since August 2011, completely refurbished in October of same year. Food sales have increased by 10-fold since reopening.

·         The Flower Pot, Lower Sunbury (Brakspear): opened as an Absolute Pub on 3 August 2012. Sited near the Thames, with eight en-suite rooms.

 Absolute Pubs directors

·         Simon Bailey studied Urban Property Surveying at Northumbria University before working as a property surveyor, for telecommunications companies and then house builders. Sarah worked with people with learning disabilities, then as a manager with a leading pub group to gain experience of the licensed trade.

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Issued on behalf of:    Absolute Pubs

By:                               ShielPorter Communications

Further information:    Ros Shiel: ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137