Crown fits for Birmingham-based comms brothers

THREE entrepreneurial Birmingham brothers have branched out from a successful rigging business they launched eight years ago to breathe new life into a landmark Worcestershire pub.

Andy, Robin and Chris Conway, directors of ARCC, the Birmingham-based communications business, have reopened The Crown at Martley, north west of Worcester, as a new hub for artisan food and drink, with a bespoke smokery as one of its main features.

And the new business, now known The Crown by ARCC, is intended to be the blueprint for a number of pub restaurants across the Midlands.

The brothers have invested a six-figure sum into the village pub, introducing a trendy new dining experience via a smokery and a focus on classic English style, with locally sourced, premium quality meat, ales and wines.

It was a mutual love of food that persuaded the brothers to buy the pub three months ago and they have a big appetite for success.

Robin Conway lives next door to the pub and his brothers Andy and Chris also live in the area.

Managing director Robin said: “It has been an ambition to launch a pub restaurant for five years as we all love good food and great hospitality, and so it was very fortunate to find an opportunity literally on our doorstep.

“We want to establish The Crown by ARCC as a pub of distinction and a new hub for artisan food and drink.

“The pub has undergone a major renovation, but we were determined from the outset that we were not simply going to reopen one of the area’s much loved pubs.”

He said the ambition was for the pub to become a ‘destination’ food house and to have a national reputation as a smokehouse.

The pub opening, which has created 15 jobs, is the brothers’ first pub venture and their aim is to bring a touch of the latest London food trend in smoked dining to Worcestershire.

Robin added: “We want our reputation to be that if it says it’s ‘by ARCC,’ it’ll be great.  And we want it to be a blueprint for others.”

Their commitment to sourcing local produce even extends to rearing their own pigs in the pub’s apple orchard.

The launch fare features an earthy artisan menu with highlights including The Riggers Platter – a nod to their ARCC business – and Boerewors sausage, a type of sausage very popular in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

And the drinks menu is equally rustic.  Focus is very much on real English and quality, with English ales and ciders.
But it’s the smokery that’s their real point of difference, which is to their own design and build.

Robin said: “We hope that The Crown by ARCC will be a blueprint for a brand that we can roll out regionally and ultimately nationally and we are already considering other sites.”