14/08/2026
After two unforgettable years, the time has come for us to say goodbye to The Plough. 🍻❤️
When we took over, this was our first ever business.
Two young local lads taking a chance on a pub during arguably one of the toughest periods the hospitality industry has ever faced. We didn’t know exactly where the journey would take us — we just backed ourselves, got our heads down and went for it.
We’ve both been going to The Plough for over 15 years, and in all those years we’d never seen the pub as consistently busy, vibrant and alive as it has been during our time here.
That was our job.
Bring people through the doors. Bring the pub back to life.
And we did it.
We didn’t just operate The Plough as a village local.
We turned it into a destination pub.
People travelled to us. We broke barrelage records, welcomed thousands of customers through the doors and hosted huge sporting occasions, live music, parties, weddings, wakes, private functions and events that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.
There were days when we’d look across a packed pub and garden and genuinely struggle to believe what two young lads and their team had created.
And The Plough became the foundation for so much more.
Off the back of what we built here, we’ve developed our catering and events company, created new opportunities and now have multiple new business ventures ahead of us.
For our first business, we couldn’t have asked for a better education.
The Plough taught us how to manage people, control costs, market events, build a brand, deal with hundreds of customers, handle pressure, make difficult decisions and keep moving forward when things didn’t go to plan.
And plenty didn’t go to plan. 😂
It would be wrong to pretend this journey has always been easy.
The conditions we’ve had to trade through have been incredibly difficult and, unfortunately, we felt we received little to no meaningful support from Greene King when we needed it most.
From our experience there were constantly moving goalposts, numerous changes and crucial works and investment that we felt the building desperately needed but which simply didn’t happen.
At times, it felt like we were being asked to succeed with one hand tied behind our backs.
But somehow, we still did.
We’d been warned before taking the pub about how difficult working with Greene King could be. We backed ourselves and went into it anyway and, well… lesson learned! 😂
That’s business. Sometimes the hardest experiences teach you the most valuable lessons, and one thing we’ve certainly learned is how important it is to have control over your own business, building and investment.
After this experience, working under Greene King again certainly won’t be part of our plans!
We also discovered the limitations of trying to build the type of hospitality and events business we wanted from a village location.
The Plough has fantastic grounds and we had enormous ideas for what we could create with them. However, restrictions surrounding outdoor events, operating hours and what we could realistically do outside meant we never felt able to utilise those grounds to their maximum potential.
It taught us another massive lesson:
Location matters.
Our ambitions simply grew beyond what we could realistically achieve from a restricted village pub.
That’s one of the reasons we’ve decided our next venture needs to be different.
We want to take everything we’ve learned about hospitality, food, events and entertainment and put it into something in a bigger, more vibrant location where we can really push what we’re capable of.
But none of that takes anything away from what The Plough gave us.
What a learning curve.
What a first business.
What an incredible two years.
Most importantly, we achieved what we originally came here to do.
We kept The Plough alive.
We brought the customers back. We built the trade. We created the events. We turned it into a destination.
We did our job.
And now it’s time for The Plough’s next chapter.
Cambs Cuisine will be taking over and, for the first time in a very long time, The Plough will be free from Greene King ownership.
We genuinely can’t wait to see what they do with it.
With the right investment and the freedom to develop this fantastic site properly, we believe The Plough can absolutely thrive. It’ll actually be quite nice coming back one day, sitting on the other side of the bar with a pint and seeing what The Plough post-Greene King looks like. 🍻
And then there’s us.
We’re taking every lesson from these two years every success, every mistake, every stressful Sunday, every packed event and every ridiculous late night — and putting it into what comes next.
We’ve decided to pursue a different venture, taking everything this place has taught us and putting it towards something special.
Bigger. Better. More ambitious.
But before we close this chapter, there’s only one way we’re going out…
🍻❤️ ONE LAST HURRAH AT THE PLOUGH! ❤️🍻
Friday 21st August — from 5pm until late.
We’re bringing everyone together for one final proper night at The Plough.
Customers, regulars, friends, family, current staff, former staff and anyone who’s been part of this completely mad two-year journey — come and celebrate with us.
We’ll have music, the BBQ going, food, drinks and one last chance to fill this place with the atmosphere and energy we’ve worked so hard to create.
Please spread the word.
If you know somebody who used to work here, drank here, helped us, supported us or was simply part of the madness — tell them to come down.
Then on Saturday 22nd August, we’ll have a more intimate final evening with The Plough team, past and present — the people who have been right in the middle of this journey with us.
And to every single member of our team:
Thank you.
You took a chance on us too.
Thank you for the ridiculous shifts, the packed bars, the pressure, the laughs, the arguments, the late finishes and the patience while two young lads figured out how the hell to run their first business. 😂❤️
We genuinely couldn’t have achieved what we did without you.
And to our regulars — thank you.
You became far more than customers. Some of you became genuine friends, and those friendships will continue long after we’ve handed the keys back.
We’ve made mistakes.
We’ve learned some brutal lessons.
We’ve had some incredible successes.
But above everything else…
WE HAD FUN. A LOT OF FUN.
Two young lads walked into their first business nearly two years ago without knowing where it would lead.
We’re walking out completely different businessmen — with a catering company, new ventures, an incredible team, friendships and contacts we’ll carry forward, and an absolutely ridiculous amount of experience.
We came here with a job to do.
We did it.
The Plough gave us chapter one.
Now we’re ready for chapter two.
And trust us…
We’re only just getting started.
Thank you to everyone who genuinely supported us along the way.
Now there’s just one thing left to do.
ONE LAST HURRAH.
Friday 21st August — 5pm until late.
Let’s make it a bloody good one. 🍻❤️
Rory & Nathan
