Hampshire country pub welcomes new landlord with ‘community’ vision

Andrew Gwilliam-Kent, 30, is the new landlord at The Cricketers Inn in Easton, officially taking over last month after helping to keep the pub open following the sudden departure of the previous landlord in October.

The new landlord hosted a welcome party on Saturday, March 2 for locals to get together and meet him.

Mr Gwilliam-Kent, who previously worked as an operations manager for a bathroom company in Bournemouth, has been overjoyed by the response of the community.

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Andrew Gwilliam-Kent (Image: Adele Bouchard)

He said: “I’m trying to create a community first, family-friendly pub. A lot of pubs in this area are quite mid to high-end gastro and we want to be that extension of people’s living room, where they can come in at any time of the day. That community element is really important to me.

“I absolutely loved helping out with the pub, every day was so different and I wanted a change personally in my life so I decided to leave my job and take it on full time. There are no regrets yet.

“The support people have shown now it’s mine rather than when the agreement was with somebody else is amazing. We’ve been busier than I could have ever imagined. The community interaction and having that support has been really empowering.

“We had the welcome party to see some new faces and build that atmosphere. It was really good and we were very busy – it was lovely to see lots of new people.

“I’m proud of what I have started to build here. There’s been lots of change here in the past few years and people coming in have said it’s not been this good since the old days. The pub has been here for 150 years so I’m very much a custodian – people have been using the pub before me and will still be using it after me. While I’m here I need to make sure their pub is the very best it can be.

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The Cricketers Inn (Image: Adele Bouchard)

“The big thing has been adding my personality into the pub and my goals and vision of a warm and welcoming place that’s family-friendly with quality food that’s at an affordable price point.

As well as the normal pub customers, Mr Gwilliam-Kent has opened the doors to events and gatherings such as business breakfasts and WI lunches.

The pub, in Easton Lane, currently offers an all-day pizza menu but is looking to improve its fresh and home-cooked food offering by hiring a new chef. There are also three rooms available to let for people visiting the area.

In his time as landlord, Mr Gwilliam-Kent has boosted the food hygiene rating from three to a five out of five rating. For more information go to thecricketerseaston.co.uk/.