A South Wales pub chain is taking over the lease of a Penarth pub which closed suddenly earlier this year.
The Bear’s Head in Windsor Road, Penarth, was formerly run by JD Wetherspoons, which announced its sudden closure in March when it decided not to renew the lease on the venue.
Croeso Pubs, which already runs seven venues including The Philharmonic and Brewhouse in Cardiff, has stepped in to take over the lease and will reopen The Bear’s Head’s doors in early July.
The Bear’s Head is the second ‘community pub’ for Croeso pubs. In December last year it refurbished The Discovery in Lakeside, Cardiff, following a £400,000 investment. In the past few months, it has also extended the Blue Bell in Cardiff’s city centre – moving into the former Brew Monster bar next door. And in January 2023, it also acquired the lease for The Dock in Cardiff Bay.
Croeso Pubs is committed to retaining as many aspects of The Bear’s Head as possible, but will also invest significantly in the premises, including the introduction of live sport from Sky and TNT Sports.
Director Simon Little said:
“Our recent acquisition of The Dock in Mermaid Quay and The Discovery in Cardiff's Lakeside has given us a blueprint for success and delivers what our customers tell us they want – particularly through the promotion of live sport and affordable food.
“We are really pleased to be able to add a venue in Penarth to our growing portfolio and hope to replicate the success we’ve had in our other venues to The Bear’s Head by delivering what the people of Penarth want in their local pub.
“We aren’t planning on changing what is already a winning formula at The Bear’s Head, the prices will mostly remain the same, along with enhancements like welcoming well-behaved dogs, and the option to book your favourite table.”
Fellow Director Craig Davies added:
“The Bear’s Head fits extremely well with our model of acquiring larger sites and we are hopeful that we can not only secure the jobs of the staff currently working there, but also create new ones as we extend our offering.
“We now have a successful formula that we have worked hard to refine when taking over new pubs which fulfils our determination to provide quality venues for the communities we operate in. The fact that the community launched a petition when the closure of The Bear’s Head was announced demonstrates that this is a place that matters to locals, and this only galvanises our resolve to invest in this ‘must visit’ pub in Penarth. It is our intention to run the business along the same ‘value lines’ as the local community previously enjoyed.”
Croeso Pubs Ltd took over the lease for The Philharmonic and reopened it in 2017 following a £1 million refurbishment, transforming it into Cardiff’s most popular nightspot. The chain also took over former Brains’ pub 33 Windsor Place in December 2022 and reopened it as the Daffodil, a food-led venue.
In 2021, it refurbished the former Goat Major pub on High Street, opposite Cardiff Castle, and reinstated it to its original name Blue Bell. And in March 2023, it also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of sport and live music venue, Brewhouse.
