Hucknall brewery Lincoln Green expands its pub portfolio

A Hucknall brewery has once again expanded its pub portfolio.

Lincoln Green, based on Wigwam Lane, has taken over The Mill and Brook in Long Eaton and it will reopen later this month.

It becomes the sixth pub to be operated by Lincoln Green along with The Station Hotel in Hucknall, The Robin Hood and Little John in Arnold, The Sir John Borlase Warren in Nottingham city centre, The Brickyard in Carlton, and The Railway in Belper.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, the founder of Lincoln Green, Anthony Hughes said: "It's been probably about 12 months in the pipeline, it's just been a particularly slow process but we're finally pushing now to get to a point where we take over the keys on Monday (16 January) and we open to the public on the 23rd.

"Next week we've got a little bit of work taking place internally to the bar area, we're reconfiguring it so that we've got all the cask ale handles on the front bar and then all the draft taps behind. We're changing the product offer quite considerably so that it's very much cask ale and craft beer led. And then we're doing the usual sorts of signature pieces that people have come to know and love about Lincoln Green, we've got a red Chesterfield armchair waiting to go in, lots of bric-à-brac going in, it's all the usual things that you'd expect us to do, very exciting times."

Asked about what attracted the brewery to wanting to take over The Mill and Brook specifically, Mr Hughes didn't have any hesitation in answering.

He said: "I think the location's great. Long Eaton is a fantastic town, it's very similar in many respects to Hucknall which we know very well, it's got a similar population, a similar demographic and if anything there are probably fewer pubs that are really offering cask ales as their main headline of their drinks offer so we think that there's a really great opportunity for us to do what we do best; it should work."

After enjoying a renaissance in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, the popularity of cask ale has dipped somewhat post-pandemic. However, Lincoln Green has seemingly bucked this trend in its pubs.

Mr Hughes continued: "Despite cask ale being in decline, our pubs are actually performing really well. We think the reason for that is because we make that sure the quality's right, because we make sure that the environment's right, the service is right, all of those things are all things that are really important to the success of the pub. It does mean that if you really want to put a lot of care and attention into selling cask ale, it still can be very successful.

"We think where we've got the balance right is that it's a special occasion type of venue, we've got fair prices on the bar and then if you are a member of the beer bonus loyalty card scheme then you get discounts to reward the loyalty you've given to us as well and when you bundle that all up into a package and give it with great service it works really well."

For more information about Lincoln Green, please click here.