Pubs firm inundated with applicants to run Wolverhampton city centre boozer
The owners of a Wolverhampton pub have already been flooded with applicants to run it, just days after putting out an advert for new licensees.
The Lych Gate Tavern in Queen Square, is looking for someone to replace current licensees, Jo Selman and Martin Cadman, who have been asked to take on a pub in Lower Gornal.
However, a lot of those who have applied do not have the experience to run a thriving real ale pub which gets packed on Wolves match days.
Black Country Ales senior area manager Anthony Walker is hoping to hold a week of interviews to find the right couple to run the pub, which is in one of the region's oldest buildings.
Mr Walker said: "We do give people with experience a chance but at our smaller pubs. The Lych Gate Tavern is a big pub with two big rooms and a mobile bar outside in the courtyard.
"When it comes to real ale, knowledge is the key, a lot of work has to go into the preparation of the ales in the days before a match day."
He added: "Ideally we want a couple or a partnership because the job is too big for just one person. On match days the bars can be three deep from 11.30am onwards."
Black Country Ales now has 47 pubs across the Midlands and has bucked the trend of pubs closing after the pandemic.
Mr Walker said: "We have done a fantastic job over the years building the company up to having so many pubs which are very popular."
The Lych Gate Tavern is one of the oldest timber framed buildings in Wolverhampton and its Georgian frontage dates from 1726 and the timber framed part at the rear dates from around 1500.
The pub was visited by Boris Johnson in 2019 ahead of that year's General Election. The Prime Minister pulled pints behind the bar and chatted to the locals during his visit.
