Why The Devonshire in Burton is a success story that defies trends

There are some very good pubs in Burton, a town I regard as my second home, but I don’t think it can be denied that the biggest success story among them over the last few years is the Devonshire Arms, in Station Street, where Carl and Nicki Stout have just racked up their latest milestone, owning the pub outright for seven years.

Carl and Nicki Stout behind the bat at the Devonshire Arms . Thanks their son, Jack, for the picture.

If you go back 40 years, as I do – and then a few – to when I worked in Burton, the Devonshire was an unremarkable pub but much has happened since then. In brief, it became part of the Burton Bridge Brewery stable, which ran to five pubs at one stage.

Carl and Nicki had met in Nuneaton, he a toolmaker from Newcastle, she behind the bar in a pub he frequented. They got together and married. One fateful day they picked up a Wetherspoons recruitment leaflet and began what is now well over 25 years in the trade. After running Spoons pubs in London and Cambridge, they made a very good go of the Lord Burton, in Burton, at one stage selling more Marston’s Pedigree than any other non-Marston’s pub in the country. And Burton became home.

The Devonshire is in Station Street, a short walk from the railway station.

It’s easy to knock Wetherspoons but for the Stouts the company offered what proved to be an invaluable fast track to learning the trade. They did a bit of everything in both food and drink. They then spent spells managing both the Burton Bridge Inn and The Devonshire for Burton Bridge.

When the opportunity arose to buy the Devvy outright, seven years ago, Carl and Nicki took the plunge.  It was a gamble but they knew the place and they knew that being independent gave them the best chance of making it work.

Work it has. When the Devvy was named Burton Campaign for Real Ale’s pub of the year this time last year it was for the third year in a row and for the fifth year of the Stouts’ six years in charge. At the same time, the couple marked 25 years as publicans in the town. It’s perhaps longer than they originally envisaged.

Here’s what Carl told me last year: “The big advantage we’ve got is our independence. We can buy whatever we want, independent of any brewery shackles and that is just a huge advantage. It has its drawbacks because we have to look after the property, which is nearly 200 years old and it’s a constant job – we’ll never stop spending money on the building.

“But overall, we’re fiercely independent and we’ve always ploughed our own path. We’ve always tried to control our own destiny and it’s quite invigorating, actually. Another important thing is that we have good staff who’ve stayed with us. Customers want continuity and that’s not just with the landlord and landlady, they want a face they recognise. That’s what it’s about. And you can’t beat being behind the bar – that’s your shop window.”

Beers are carefully chosen, popular local brews mixing with astute choices from further afield. It’s never too off the wall but there are often beers you don’t see elsewhere locally.

The Devvy is drinks-led, unusual enough these days for a successful pub. It’s not geared up for daily food but Nicki is an excellent cook and there are specific themed food nights, occupying only part of the pub, which are often booked out within hours of being announced. It’s a smart halfway house, without having to produce food every day.

The gleaming copper-topped tables - not to mention excellent Draught Bass - are a feature of the Devvy.

Not for a moment have the Stouts stood still with the Devvy. It has been refurbished throughout and the green upholstery in the bar is particularly striking – but not quite as striking as the stunning copper-topped tables. These, a job lot Carl had restored by a local company, are a particular source of pride. We’ve all been in pubs where copper-topped tables look tired, as if they could never gleam again. In the Devvy, they are not allowed to get like that, they are wiped down at the end of every night, then polished the next morning. It’s an example of the attention to detail the Stouts recognise as crucial to their success.

How long can they go on? Well, that will be up to them. Their son, Jack, is old enough and well trained enough to look after the pub, also a dab hand in the kitchen and comfortable mixing with all ages. Might he be the future? Time will tell. I can already see his eyes rolling skywards when he reads this!

If there is the merest drawback to the Devvy, it is that it is so popular it can occasionally be difficult to get through the door – but how many publicans would love a problem like that?

Back on the plus side, quite a few of Burton’s best pubs are within a few hundred yards of the Devvy and each other and a short walk from the railway station, making Burton a cracking destination for beer lovers.

Try also… among those a few yards from the Devvy are the Coopers Tavern, the Roebuck, the Oak & Ivy and The Arches micropub, run by Outwoods Brewing, while the former Weighbridge micro is set to reopen under new licensees and with a new name. The hugely popular four-day Burton Ale Trail, organised by local beer historian Ian Webster, will highlight these and more when it is held again in June.