Promising new future for Hereford pub (From Hereford Times)
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Promising new future for Hereford pub
7:00am Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News
Vernon Amor, the managing director of Wye Valley Brewery, with landlords Becky and Ben Andrews
A HEREFORD pub which sparked protests when it closed two years ago has new owners.
Wye Valley Brewery has taken over the Vaga Tavern in Hunderton which shut suddenly in 2011 following a dispute between a relief manager and its then owner, the brewer Marston’s.
The venue reopened a year later following a “substantial” renovation before the Wye Valley group's involvement.
New landlords Ben and Becky Andrews say they hope to “revitalise” the Vaga Street pub which has a host of sports teams based there.
Vernon Amor, managing director of Wye Valley Brewery, renowned for its Butty Bach and Dorothy Goodbody ales, believes the firm is standing up to competition from supermarket sales.
He said: “At a time when more and more people are drinking cheap supermarket- bought alcohol we still sell 95 per cent of our beer in pubs and continue to invest in them."
Wye Valley Brewery now has six pubs in its portfolio.
In Hereford it boasts its golden egg, the Barrels on St Owen Street, plus the Britannia on Cotterell Street in Whitecross.
It also runs the Rose and Lion in Bromyard as well as a pub in both Malvern and Gloucester.
