Ring O' Bells

23/09/2026

🐶 One of our regulars showing off her skills!! Our Lola Bear! Come and give your dog some our healthy, home made dog treats! 🐾

23/09/2026

It's Wednesday already! ... time for Hump Day Happy Hour between 5 - 8 this evening with 20% off draught beers, cider and spirits!

22/09/2026

Don't forget quiz night at the Ring O'Bells tonight kicking off at 8! ... Regular hosts Pete & Sue are back from their African trip to take charge again ... £25 for the winning team and free fries for every team!

18/09/2026

🐟 Welcome in the weekend with our Friday Fish Specials! 🎉

Start your weekend with a proper Fish & Chips — fresh haddock fillet served with mushy peas, chunky chips, tartare sauce and a slice of lemon, all for just £13.95. 🍋🍟

And there’s more…

Order any two dishes from our Small Plates menu and enjoy a FREE fish small plate! Choose from:

🦀 Delicate Crab Cakes served with mango salsa
🦑 Fresh Calamari
🍤 Sizzling Gambas Pil Pil

Perfect for sharing over a Friday drink… or keeping all to yourself! 😉

Make Friday delicious and start your weekend with us. 🥂🐟

17/09/2026

So… an uncharacteristically grumpy post from me today.

There’s a lot being said about VAT and the pressures facing hospitality, but sometimes the figures and headlines don’t show what this actually looks like for a real pub. So here’s my real-world example.

I opened the doors to our newly refurbished pub in November. We’ve done everything we can to make it the kind of pub people want in their community: good food, quiz nights, live bands, special events, community involvement ......— and, thankfully, we have an incredible bunch of customers who support us.

But as we approach the end of our first year, here’s the reality:

The pub is currently operating at around a 3% profit.

And when I look at what I personally earn from the pub against the actual number of hours and level of commitment it takes to run it, my effective hourly income works out at less than 25% of the minimum wage earned by my 16-year-old members of staff.

Running a pub isn’t a 9-to-5 job. It’s early mornings, late nights, and weekends.

So yes — once all those hours are taken into account, I’m effectively earning less than a quarter of the hourly minimum wage I pay my youngest staff.

That is insane!!

I knew nobody opens a pub expecting to get rich. You genuinely have to do this for the love of it. But there has to come a point where loving what you do and working incredibly hard at it still allows you to earn a reasonable living.

Food costs have risen. Utilities have risen. Firewood has risen. Alcohol costs have risen. Brewery costs and pub rent have to be paid. Wages and all the other costs of running a responsible business have to be paid and of course the equally contentious business rates come to bit us.

And eventually there is nowhere left for those costs to go.

That leaves pubs like ours stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Put prices up enough to cover the rising costs, and customers understandably start cutting back. Absorb the increases ourselves, and eventually there is no viable business left to run.

This isn’t me asking anyone to feel sorry for me. I chose to take this pub on and I absolutely love what we’ve created here and all of customers!! ❤️

But I do want people to understand the reality behind the conversation about hospitality and VAT. When you hear publicans and hospitality businesses saying the current situation is becoming untenable, this is what they mean. I used to earn £80K a year in the software industry - now I've paid more than that in VAT alone!

There is a petition calling for change to VAT for the hospitality sector. I’ve put the link below so you can read it, see what is being proposed, and decide for yourself whether you want to support it.

Because independent pubs aren’t just businesses. They’re employers, meeting places, music venues, community spaces and, for many people, a very important part of where they live.

And we’d quite like to still be here next year.

Grumpy rant over. 😘

View fullsize VAT at 10% is fair for hospitality. VAT at 10% is fair for hospitality. 152,757 PEOPLE SIGNED THE PETITION TO CUT VAT TO 10% FOR HOSPITALITY Sign our petition for 10% hospitality VAT Name First Name (required) Last Name (required) Email (required) TICK THIS TO RECEIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATES....

17/09/2026

So… an uncharacteristically grumpy post from me today.

(The Grumpy Landlord Andy Burnham)

There’s a lot being said about VAT and the pressures facing hospitality, but sometimes the figures and headlines don’t show what this actually looks like for a real pub. So here’s my real-world example.

I opened the doors to our newly refurbished pub in November. We’ve done everything we can to make it the kind of pub people want in their community: good food, quiz nights, live bands, special events, community involvement ......— and, thankfully, we have an incredible bunch of customers who support us.

But as we approach the end of our first year, here’s the reality:

The pub is currently operating at around a 3% profit.

And when I look at what I personally earn from the pub against the actual number of hours and level of commitment it takes to run it, my effective hourly income works out at less than 25% of the minimum wage earned by my 16-year-old members of staff.

Running a pub isn’t a 9-to-5 job. It’s early mornings, late nights, and weekends.

So yes — once all those hours are taken into account, I’m effectively earning less than a quarter of the hourly minimum wage I pay my youngest staff.

That is insane!!

I knew nobody opens a pub expecting to get rich. You genuinely have to do this for the love of it. But there has to come a point where loving what you do and working incredibly hard at it still allows you to earn a reasonable living.

Food costs have risen. Utilities have risen. Firewood has risen. Alcohol costs have risen. Brewery costs and pub rent have to be paid. Wages and all the other costs of running a responsible business have to be paid and of course the equally contentious business rates come to bit us.

And eventually there is nowhere left for those costs to go.

That leaves pubs like ours stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Put prices up enough to cover the rising costs, and customers understandably start cutting back. Absorb the increases ourselves, and eventually there is no viable business left to run.

This isn’t me asking anyone to feel sorry for me. I chose to take this pub on and I absolutely love what we’ve created here and all of customers!! ❤️

But I do want people to understand the reality behind the conversation about hospitality and VAT. When you hear publicans and hospitality businesses saying the current situation is becoming untenable, this is what they mean. I used to earn £80K a year in the software industry - now I've paid more than that in VAT alone!

There is a petition calling for change to VAT for the hospitality sector. I’ve put the link below so you can read it, see what is being proposed, and decide for yourself whether you want to support it.

Because independent pubs aren’t just businesses. They’re employers, meeting places, music venues, community spaces and, for many people, a very important part of where they live.

And we’d quite like to still be here next year.

Grumpy rant over. 😘

https://www.vatstheproblem.co.uk/

View fullsize VAT at 10% is fair for hospitality. VAT at 10% is fair for hospitality. 152,757 PEOPLE SIGNED THE PETITION TO CUT VAT TO 10% FOR HOSPITALITY Sign our petition for 10% hospitality VAT Name First Name (required) Last Name (required) Email (required) TICK THIS TO RECEIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATES....

15/09/2026

Well…. Another incredible award and a testament to our talented chefs and awesome front of house team. We have been given a Trip Advisor Traveller’s choice award scoring in the top 10% of restaurants in the world based on our reviews from the last 12 months. To say I’m proud of our amazing team would be an understatement. 🥹💕

12/09/2026

😍 I know I’m biased but I think our terrace looks beautiful even in the dark and rain ☔️ 🌙

10/09/2026

Chef Sam has been busy in the kitchen, and there’s plenty to get stuck into…

🔥 Small plates made for sharing
Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa • Corned Beef Hashcake with Brown Sauce & Fried Egg • Sautéed Wild Mushrooms • Gambas Pil Pil

🍔 Hit the Burger Bar
Double Smash Burger • Korean Chicken Burger • Chicken Tikka Burger

🥩 Fancy something bigger?
Our Steak Frites is already a firm favourite, or tuck into our Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl and our Chirzo & Bacon Mac 'n Cheese with Maple Glazed Chicken is perfect comfort food with the change in the weather!

🐟 And you can’t beat a pub classic…
Fish & Chips made with a prime haddock fillet — just £15.00!

Perfect for lunch, a few plates with friends or a meal to remember

Book online, give us a call or just walk in! https://beer-oclock.com/book/ring-o-bells

08/09/2026

Don't forget our regular Pub Quiz tonight including £25 for the winning team and free fries for every team! ...