Why the evolution of micropubs should be welcome news for the whole industry
BARELY a week goes by without the news that a new micropub is being proposed or is opening.
They have become an important part of the hospitality scene, originally offering an alternative to the “traditional” pub – they set out as quiet rooms, almost always serving traditional cask beer, with no fruit machines, no music, and with conversation encouraged above all else.
So, I thought I’d revisit the history of them, nationally and locally, and pick out a few local success stories.
It is generally accepted that the first such pub was the Butchers Arms in Herne, Kent, set up by Martyin Hillier in a former butcher’s shop in 2005. Martyn also founded the Micropub Association and was free with his knowledge to help others start up.
He says he was told what he was doing would alienate 90% of potential customers and his response was “no problem, I only want the other 10% and the pub will be 10% the size of a normal pub.” The Butchers Arms was – and remains – a success.
In Derby, George Lambert and Walter Scott liked the idea and opened the city’s first, the Little Chester Ale House, at Chester Green in November 2012. It gave them an outlet for their small brewery, Wentwell. They later founded The Last Post, in Uttoxeter Old Road, Derby, and the Queen’s Vaults, in Ashbourne. All three are thriving under different ownership since George and Walter retired.
The brewery outlet theme has endured, as with Dave Tucker’s Beestonia in Ilkeston, Little Brewing Company’s Tap on Alfreton Road and Colin Trowell’s The Arches, his Outwoods Brewing Company tap, in Burton.
Today, we are accustomed to micropubs but it’s fascinating that they have evolved under enlightened owners.
You cannot, any longer, pigeonhole a micropub as narrowly as Martyn Hillier did with the Butchers Arms. For a start, many now host live music, bringing people in on what would otherwise be quieter nights.
They have food nights, run quizzes and – like good traditional pubs – have become a hub of their community. In some cases, the micro might be the only pub in a village, or suburb.
Nor is selling traditional beer an essential for all micropubs. In Borrowash, footballer Ben Osborn and his mate Harry Steare have opened two within yards of each other, Lonely Boy and El Camino, which music buffs will recognise as Black Keys song titles. They would likely call them bars rather than pubs but what's in a name - they are the only outlets at the centre of a large village that has otherwise lost all but one of its pubs. Marstons’ Nag’s Head remains at the far end (from Derby) of the village.
Size is no longer restricted. Some “micropubs” are bigger than some traditional pubs. Perhaps we should just call everything a pub.
Some traditionalists still don’t like micropubs, seeing them as a threat to “real” pubs, complaining that the micro operating in a former shop is not burdened with the same overheads as a traditional pub and therefore has an unfair advantage.
I like a lot of traditional things myself but on this point I disagree strongly with the diehards. We surely need every possible type of pub to survive and find a market.
Most enlightened licensees agree that several different types of pubs relatively close to each other can complement each other. Micros tend to close earlier – people who want another drink will move on to the nearby traditional pub.
Burton town centre is a great example. The aforementioned Outwoods, the superb Coppersmith’s Inn (the former Weighbridge), and the Last Heretic are not only within half a mile of each other but just as close to three of the town’s best and longest-established pubs, the Devonshire Arms, the Roebuck and the Coopers Tavern.
Neither the micros or the trad pubs suffer for this proximity. They thrive on it.
At the Coppersmith’s, licensee Philip Chilton (Chillo to all) has seen things from both sides in a career of more than 40 years. He ran three successful Burton pubs before stepping away from the trade.
When what is now the Coppersmith’s became available, he and partner Laura Illsley stepped in. It’s fascinating, to me, to watch a seasoned landlord working a micro, because many are run by people who’ve never had a pub before. I know how hard Chillo works – I hope he won’t mind me saying that he makes it look effortless, under control. He’d tell me different!
At the Outwoods, Colin Trowell had no such background but his work ethic is prodigious, brewing in the adjacent former railway arch to the one his bar occupies. I praised one of his beers especially highly in my last but one article but I’ve never tasted a bad one from him.
A vision and relentless hard work. That’s what successful micropub operators have in common. Here are two more examples to round off.
I mean no disrespect to anyone else when I say that Fraser Chatburn and his wife Karen have nailed exactly what I think a micropub should be with The Junction, at Stretton, just outside Burton.
Imaginatively decorated and with some of the fold-down seats previously from a cinema, it is packed with detail, not least a TV screen which constantly promotes events in the pub and the local community.
The drinks choices, all local for the cask ales, are especially well thought through.
Above all else is the welcome. If you don’t feel welcome in any size of pub, you’re on a loser and we can all name a few. Karen and Fraser have it bang on, from the way they greet you to the friendly atmosphere that permeates the pub.
Back in Derby, while there are also plenty of micros, one of the more interesting stories is that of Derek and Tracey Chambers, a former policeman and a former nurse who were virtually forced out of the pub they ran in Spondon a few years ago by the pubco that owned it.
It was the pubco’s loss. The Chambers founded a quintessential micro, The Hoptimist, in a former hardware store in the centre of the village in December 2021. In October 2024, they added The Hoptimist Draycott, this time taking over the closed Draycott Tap micro in what had been a corner shop.
Now Derek and Tracey are looking to open a third venue, in a former fireplace showroom on Duffield Road in Allestree.
One other twist brings us back to where we started, the Butchers Arms. Reputedly, six customers of that first micro went on to found their own.
And that happened at the Hoptimist, where regular customer Adam Taylor was challenged to “have a go if you think it’s easy” by Tracey Chambers. He did, and now his Hoppy Place, Chaddesden’s first micro, is another success, heading towards three years in business.
They’re here to stay. And in this difficult trading climate, it has to be welcome news.
Such an interesting article. I am all in favour of micropubs. They are the antithesis of 'pubco' establishments and allow low overheads to offer freedom to explore different tastes.
Today, I was in a traditional, privately owned pub having a great lunch and chat with someone I'd never met about art and galleries! The beer was exceptional, as expected, but, whilst it was not a micropub, the place had the atmosphere of welcome that is so vital.