‘Phenomenal’ Landlord and Landlady celebrate 30 years

By James Fletcher

Paul and Kate took over The Commercial on the 25th of March in 1993, they started as managers for the original owner, David Goldthorpe this led the couple to lease the pub for 15 years and eventually bought the pub from Mr Goldthorpe and have been there ever since.

The pub boasts plenty of punters every week, with speciality nights especially popular with the locals. The Whiskey tasting nights, where they taste different types of whiskey from different distilleries around the UK. And the chip butty night where you’ll have to book weeks in advance because of the high demand for tickets.

The staff organised this party for the couple, knowing that the owners had no idea. Landlord Paul claimed he was well aware of the party, as the landlord said, “It was nice to see a big turnout with the staff old and new as well as our regulars.”

But that didn’t stop the staff from organising special drinks to be exclusive for night festivities such as three special beers and the distillery located at the back of the pub, which donated a bottle of Gin and a bottle of Vodka for the evening.

We asked another Paul, the assistant manager of the pub, what it’s like for working for Paul and Kate? and he had nothing but admiration for the couple, for whom he has worked for over 20 years, as he went on to explain,

“I don’t see them as bosses, I see them more like friends. They are phenomenal employers; they give me a lot of freedom to do stuff for the pub and try out new things. They are the type of people who would do anything for their staff. I remember through covid if anyone needed anything then they would do anything they could to help because they are those types of people, and that was evident when the lockdown ended, and when the pub was allowed to open up again all the staff just wanted to come down and help in any way they could. The staff were willing to jump through hoops for Paul and Kate.”

Paul has no intentions to retire any time soon and will hopefully see another three decades of service, and thanks all the staff for their dedication over the years and customers old and new, and continued to say, “Even though it might not be me here in 30 years’, I hope they are still coming in, we’ve loved every minute of it, and we can’t thank everyone enough, all the staff past and present as well as the customers.”