Confidence in Stockport continues as town centre pub secures £400,000 investment

Robinsons Brewery have announced a £400,000 refurbishment project for the Bulls Head that will reopen the pub, the oldest in Stockport’s Marketplace, after eight years.

The Bulls Head’s refurbishment is estimated to take 3 months, starting in June 2020, and its new look aims to celebrate Stockport’s history, and the Marketplace pub’s heritage.

The Bulls Head is Grade II listed is the oldest fully licensed pub in Stockport’s Marketplace and is the only in Stockport to feature a blue plaque for its historical associations.  It was the centre of local unrest which led to the massacre of Peterloo and, prior to construction of the Market Hall, the balcony was famously used by orators to address the crowds and for the election of ‘hustings’.

William Robinson, Managing Director (Pub Division), explains:

Stockport Market Place is the historic heart of our town and somewhere we are proud to help preserve. We took the decision to renovate the Bakers Vaults in 2014; at a time when the Market Place was really struggling and something drastic needed to change. Since then, has pulled together for the benefit of the town and the regeneration of Stockport has been remarkable. From Foodie Friday, which we sponsor, to the launch of the Produce Hall, and the many boutique and independent shops, the old town of Stockport is once again bustling and it’s now the right time to re-open the Bulls Head.”

Stockport is currently benefitting from a £1bn regeneration boom. The revolution has already seen the arrival of the Red Rock leisure complex and the Stockport Exchange office development, with ambitious plans for the Merseyway shopping centre, the transformation of the town’s bus station and plans to renovate part of Stockport Town Centre West into the region’s ‘coolest, greenest new urban village’ also in the pipeline. The 20-year vision includes proposals for more than 3,000 new homes in a ‘walkable neighbourhood’, with ‘enviable public transport’ connections – as well as up to 1 million sq ft of employment space.

William continues:

I hope everyone is as excited as we are for the restoration of the Bulls Head. The transformation requires considerable investment; but we believe in the collective vision and ambition that we all share for Stockport to thrive once more and re-opening this historic pub is an integral step in bringing life to that corner of the Market Place and attracting people back to Stockport. Obviously key to delivering this vision is finding the right person to take the reins and run the Bulls Head long-term.”

The re-opening of the Bulls Head will create approximately 15-20 new jobs in the town. The pub can seat 84 covers inside and 36 covers outside and it is envisaged that food will play a big part in the new offer for the Marketplace. There are also plans to make the pub fully accessible by relocating the toilets and creating new user-friendly facilities.

Robinsons Brewery are now actively on the hunt for anyone interested in running the newly refurbished Marketplace pub when it reopens in September 2020.