Long-time local takes over Black Country pub after flats plan falls flat
A Black Country pub is set to get a new lease of life after being taken over by a long-time local.
The Five Ways Inn on Himley Road in Gornal is set to undergo a major renovation ahead of a grand opening at the start of September after being taken over by Mike Westwood, owner of the Jinja beer company and a regular at the pub for 20 years.
Mr Westwood said the pub had been put up for redevelopment as flats by the owners, but he had kept in touch with them and said that if the plans didn't go ahead, he was interested in taking over the lease of the pub and keeping it open as a pub.
He said: "I'm a Gornal lad and the Five Ways used to be my local for quite a few years and I still only live two minutes away, plus I've also supplied beer to them in the past and got to know the owners Ian and Wendy Harris.
"I did have discussions with them about taking the pub on, but they were looking to either sell it or go down the renovation route and I know the planning permission had got approved, but I would always say to them that if they changed their minds or anything happened to give me a shout and see what we can do.
"They came back to me and said the feedback from locals was that they didn't want to lose it as a pub and Ian said he really didn't want to see it close, so I put forward a proposal for him to ensure that it's beneficial for him to keep it open as a pub and not go down the demolition route."
Mr Westwood said that he had now taken on the pub as the leaseholder, with his colleague Callum Nicholls running it day to day as manager, and said he wanted to bring back the community aspect to the pub.
He said: "It would have been galling to see it close and I'm going to do as much as I can to keep it open for a long time.
"What made it special in the past was the community side as everyone knew each other, so that's what I want to bring back, with Sky Sports and TNT Sports on the TV and a new loyalty card scheme, which means that for every pound you spend, you get 10p back on the card.
"It means, for example, a £4 pint will get you back 40p on the loyalty card, so it means people can save and spend as they wish, so things like that will help it to become a community hub people can come to.
"We are working on renovating the pub right now and plan to reopen fully at the start of September, so exciting times ahead."
