A pub in the heart of Norwich is to be split in half ahead of its planned reopening at the end of the month.
New bosses at the Edith Cavell in Tombland are aiming to transform the boozer into two separate businesses with a bar at ground level and a “surprise new experience” in the former home of the Prime steak restaurant upstairs.
Partners Brandon Hoult and Adrian Emmerson will move down from their Sheffield sports bar in order to run the pub, which closed in March and was most recently operated by Andrew McNeil, whose other pub the York closed in January.
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Now, the new operators, who already have five years of experience running two pubs in Yorkshire, have taken on the Norwich watering hole saying its “stunning” location stood out against other pubs they scouted in Liverpool and Harrogate.
They plan to focus their offering on daytime coffees and relaxed drinks before becoming a bar opening until late.
Mr Hoult said: “We were looking for a new city and a new vibe and this was a great opportunity.
“We were running sports bars, but we want to do something a bit different here.
“We like a project, so we’ve closed it and renovated it and we’ll be looking to turn it into a bar at night while attracting the coffee crowd in the day.
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“Upstairs we’re having something separate, which will remain a secret, but it’s something which will be massive for us.
“It’ll be an immersive experience which will be as much a tourist attraction as a bar, but the two will have separate entrances, we don’t want downstairs to become a waiting room for upstairs like it seemed to be previously.”
The pair are hoping to open at the end of May but say increased investment from owners Stonegate has allowed them to do more than they anticipated and could cause a delay.
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