The White Hart landlord Kieran Bullen is preparing to celebrate his four-year anniversary of taking on the pub in early April. We sat down to talk about what they’ve done and achieved in the last four years. His pride really shines through:

“We turned around what was a dying pub. It was very derelict, not looked after and hadn’t had a good reputation for quite some time. On top of that we managed to survive the pandemic and thrive throughout it actually. The energy crisis that we’re going through, the cost of living crisis… on top of all that we’ve managed to do a large garden expansion, add a new pizza menu, regular quizzes and authentic homemade fresh cocktails.

Last year we started our first beer festival which was a huge success. This year we’ve planned multiple beer festivals and invested in all the equipment. All the beers at the festival will be on hand pumps which you don’t often see. Normally they come straight from the barrel and you end up with flat beer. We’ve gone the extra mile to buy 15 new pumps and built a second bar to fit into the corner especially for the festivals.

Let’s go back to early 2019 - how did you end up running a pub?

At the time I was head chef at a pub in Rutland, the smallest county in England which no one has ever heard of (it's between Peterborough and Leicestershire). I grew tired of working in the kitchen and wanted to run my own business. I’m a decent chef but I prefer being out front interacting with customers.

Did you originally train as a chef?

I have three diplomas in catering, but my first qualification was a countryside management diploma when I was 18. I quit that and went straight into catering.

Why did you choose Wymondham?

I’m definitely a country person, I don’t like cities. I like that Wymondham is a historic market town with rural character which reminds me of my hometown Oakham. My partner at the time had an opportunity to work in Norwich so we chose to come here.

How did you secure the pub lease?

I was wrapping up my head chef job whilst doing a business plan, setting up contracts, coming and doing interviews here on my days off. I had to pitch against a few other couples and the pub company chose me.

What was the state of the pub when you took it over?

The kitchen was bare bones, derelict. There was no trade base, no regular clientele. It had been closed for about three months. The reputation was that it was a place to go for a fight.

When I got in I had to find a whole new team of staff. I used my savings and a hefty credit card to buy all the crockery and kitchen equipment. We had to buy second-hand stuff at that time to match what little turnover we were bringing in. This year we’ve been able to buy brand new equipment like fryers and a proper pizza oven.

What was it like for the first few months of having the doors open?

Hell. (laughs). We made a big hooha about being under new ownership with a new landlord, and everything being different. I had to bar a lot of people in the first summer I was here. I really had to make it clear we were family friendly and welcoming so there had to be a zero tolerance policy to bad behaviour.

What did you do to try and attract customers at the beginning?

We tried to get the food offering right. We did a senior citizens menu which went down an absolute storm. Coffee mornings we advertised heavily to show we have a nice environment for a chat with friends, with a bean to cup machine. We even tried offering Friday breakfasts during markets but it didn’t really gain enough traction to keep it going. Getting involved with the community was also key and we enjoyed taking part in Wymondham in Bloom.

That was 2019, so then what happened?

A week off our first anniversary we went into lockdown. I remember it so distinctly because we were planning everything for the first anniversary celebration. Out of the blue everything had to shut. I had to throw out all the beer in the cellar. It took me four days to get rid of it all because we had to liaise with the water company to make sure we didn’t throw out more than a certain amount of alcohol per hour. Thousands of pints poured down the drain.

How did you survive the pandemic?

We started a takeaway business. I was self-employed so had no wage coming in. A few of my staff members weren’t eligible for furlough, so to help keep them afloat we did takeaways four days a week. That’s when we started pizzas and I got experience as a delivery driver. It was very eerie and apocalyptic driving around when everyone was at home. It feels like a dream now. It's hard to believe it actually happened. It was enough to keep us going and present in the minds of people in the community.

We also took on the post office in September 2020. We couldn’t open to sell beer but our doors were open to allow people to post things. It was supposed to be a temporary solution but they stayed for two full years. They’ve now found a new home in Jarrold. It was a great thing for us at the time to bring more new people in through the doors to see we had really changed and was truly different. It was tough because at the beginning I was the fourth landlord in three years. People had given up on the pub at that point, they were fed up.

How was summer 2022?

Fantastic! Best year ever. We did a huge garden expansion just before the Queen’s Jubilee. It added an extra 110 seats outside, giving us 150. It meant we could thrive all summer, people love a beer garden. Having such a lovely, comfortable, clean and tidy area was really nice. We had a beer festival, comedy nights, music and it was brilliant. This year we’re going further with lots of events lined up for the garden. We may even try bringing our Sunday night quiz out back if the weather is nice.

What does the future hold?

For us I think it’s about shoring up what we do best. We’re committed to offering good quality food at affordable prices in a nice environment with great staff and great drinks. We employ about 20 people and that will increase in the summer. We’ll continue working with SIBA (the Society of Independent Brewers) for our real ale selection as people are really enjoying them. And the Art Society exhibitions are also changing every three months, we love selling pieces for them and the art really brightens up the restaurant area.