Celebrating 40 years behind the bar

Lianne Cooper

04 July 2008

A WEATHEROAK couple are celebrating 40 years at the helm of one of the area’s most popular pubs.
Phil and Sheila Meads, owners of the Coach and Horses in Weatheroak near Alveschurch, hit the land-mark occassion this month after taking over the venue on April 10, 1968.
During that time they have left bar untouched and ensured that the accompanying beer is the best customers can buy.
And it was their focus on what really matters that brought the pub the Redditch and Bromsgrove CAMRA Pub of the Year award four years running.
When the couple took over as managers 40-years ago, they brought their 15-month old son Mark with them, while their second son Gary was born on the premises the following year.
They were already in the business, having worked full-time for Ansells brewery in Solihull Lodge, but Phil had always wanted to run his own show.
“With it being a freehouse I thought I could see an opportunity," he said.
"The bar was exactly as it is now, nothing has changed, apart from the food on offer and extending the buildings to cater for demand."
At first there was a little shop at the end of the pub where they sold sweets, hot dogs and pop for the children. By the beginning of the 1970s they introduced gammon and egg sandwiches, which proved very popular, and when they created the lounge as it is now, in 1983, they had people queuing up for a table.
Then in November 1991 Phil and Sheila opened the new extension, creating a fully-fledged restaurant. During this time, they had progressed to become tenants in 1975 before buying the freehold in 1980.
They have maintained a continuity of staff that sees cook Lesley Summers clocking up 24 years with them, manager Mark Newey 16 years and 'cleaner-cum-handywoman' Betty Bloomfield 30 years.
That continuity will now stay in the family as son Gary has taken over the running of the Coach while Phil has more of a back-seat role, but he is “still very much there”.

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