Saved landmark Birmingham pub owners invest in £19,000 new bar mechanics as statement of intent

The upgrade is the first in the pub's modern history and will allow bar staff to serve drinks faster and give the customers a bigger selection of drinks.

Bartons Arms operational manager Angela Nelson said: "Basically we’ve had a full overhaul of the bar to have 32 fonts installed.

"We will now be able to offer the very finest selection of world beers, cider and cask ales which will rival in any bar in Birmingham and even the Midlands.

"This is a major investment for the Bartons Arms, which has been done to serve the community, all of our guests and complement our food."

The Victorian pub closed in January but was saved by a local consortium over the summer, the owners hoped to be open on the first home game of the season against Arsenal but flooding scuppered that plan. It has been open, but without a full compliment of drinks and food until its official relaunch of the pub later this month.

"The word is out now that we are back open, our first few weeks was just like airing the building out after it had stood empty for months. We wanted to know exactly what was needed in terms of investment and capacity and everyone who walks in will notice the different."

The Bartons Arms was a popular CAMRA pub before the recent explosion in popularity of real ales and Angela promised the all important chalk board has been kept and be full of breweries from near and far.

She said: "We wanted to improve our drinks range, like Staropramen on daught, and that is why we have upgraded the system. However, The Bartons Arms stuck with real ale when it was hard to find. So of course we will have our craft ales from Green Duck, Oakham Ales, Silhill Brewery and guest favourites too.

"We also have cocktails and good wines, this upgrade has shown the new owners will go the extra mile to upgrade the Bartons Arms to put it back on the map where it should be - in the heart of Aston and the perfect place for a pre or post game pint."

The next Villa home match is against Wolves at 3pm on Saturday, home and away fans are welcome. There will live music over the weekend as well.