Desert Island Pubs – Matt Snell, CEO of BoxPark

Matt Snell, CEO, BoxPark

1. Earliest Memory of a Pub

I grew up in a pub, so all my early memories were in smoked-filled public houses, in Sheffield. The video juke box had just been invented and we had one in the games room, which made it feel like something from Back to the Future. My parents (Chris and Andrea) were a classic mine-host couple of the 1980’s and I remember very vividly them getting glammed up every evening to be on the bar and welcome the regulars of the Centre Spot (the first pub we lived in).

So with the above in mind, I thought I would tell a funny story, one that gives a little glimpse of what pubs were like in 1984. At six years old I was obsessed with how the bandits worked (a Sheffield term for a fruit machine), however, as you might expect I was strictly forbidden from playing on, or going anywhere near these machines.

Anyway, one morning both my parents were busy doing this or that, getting ready for the day’s service, and I was upstairs playing when I “found” a 50p piece on the window ledge. Clearly my curiosity got the better of me and I decided it would be a good idea to take the 50p, go downstairs to the taproom, and put it in the bandit.

Now in 1984 you got 10 spins for 50p, I’m not sure how many you get these days but I am pretty sure it’s not 10 spins! I vividly remember not being tall enough to stand and play the machine and so was stood on a table stool to reach and see what was happening. With each spin that went by, my curiosity was being completely satisfied as I couldn’t for the life of me understand what all the fuss was about, that was until I pressed go on the 10th spin and disaster struck…The jackpot came in!

The machine proceeded to light up like Blackpool illuminations and make outrageously loud noises just as one of the cleaners came in. In those days pubs didn’t use contract cleaning companies and so the cleaners were women off the local estate who were regulars in the pub and friends with my mum and dad. “Chris, Chris, come and look” shouted Carol McGeady, the cleaner. The look of absolute horror on my face must have given the game away to Carol. “Where did you get the money to play Matthew?” Just as my dad walked in.

My dad, who was a larger-than-life character, reiterated Carol’s question. “Yes, Matthew where did you get the money from?” I froze completely and was unable to speak. After a couple of minutes of stern questioning, I couldn’t cope with the pressure and folded like a cheap deck of cards, I gave the whole scam up and in floods of tears copped for the lot. My dad clearly couldn’t decide whether to be angry that I’d pinched 50p off the side or laugh because of how ridiculously unlucky/lucky I had been…After all he was £10 in tokens better off (In the 80’s fruit machines didn’t pay out cash, they paid out in tokens that you could only spend in that specific pub). He decided on the first course of action, gave me a smack on the bum, sent me to my bedroom and pocketed the tenner.

2. Most Inspirational Pub to my Career

Tough Choice this one. I was an ops director for Fuller’s for a few years and looked after all their sites outside Zone 1 in London. It is a brilliant business, one that invests for the long term and does not obsess about that week’s labour percentage. With this as a mentality it makes it much easier to create pub environments that you are truly proud of. One such investment was the Turks Head in St Margaret’s, the first major scheme I did for Fuller’s and by far the biggest refurbishment scheme I had ever undertaken in my career to date.

We took what was basically a real locals’ haunt and rugby pub and created something special. We found a way to knock through to the Winchester Hall next door and subsequently move the toilets that were originally there. We also zoned a dedicated dining room, the Dovecote, and did all this without ripping the heart out of the pub, which was a community hub for St Margaret’s. This scheme gave me the confidence to be creative and push boundaries as I approached new developments. Over my career I have created some spaces that I am so, so proud of.

3. My Current Local

My current local is the Wagon and Horses in Millhouses Sheffield. It’s owned by True North Brew Co, a local Sheffield operator. It has an excellent range of beers, great food and a fantastic team. But most importantly it sells original recipe Stones Best Bitter on Cask. The pubs I grew up in were all William Stones pubs, selling beer from their Cannon brewery in Neepsend Sheffield. Sadly like many regional brewers it was gobbled up by the big boys and its heritage was lost with the closure of the Cannon Brewery. True North bought the rights to make Stones Best bitter, in cask, in Sheffield once again, using the original recipe and Sheffield water, it’s bloody glorious.

4. My Favourite Pub

This is so hard, it’s like asking which is my favourite child? If really pushed it would be The Victoria Inn, Dronfield, from 10 years ago. My dad took this pub on as a tenancy over 25 years ago and later bought it outright. He developed a business that was the absolute heart of the community and until he retired five years ago, I knew everyone in there and they knew me because I was, “Chris’s lad”. I played for the football team and celebrated almost every major event in my adult life in there. I don’t get in as much these days as my dad is enjoying retirement, but it will always have a special place in my heart.

5. The Pub you’d like to take to the Island

For me to take a pub to a desert Island with me, it would have to be the perfect combination of quality food, great beers, showing sport, and with a true connection to its local community. So when I think about a pub that does this it would have to be the North London Tavern, Kilburn, before the Greene King Days. It was my local when I lived in London and part of the old Real Pubs business and that’s exactly what it was. A real pub, a proper boozer. The food was fantastic, it was packed every night, but still full of characters from the neighbourhood. Whilst [owners] Nick and Malc did gentrify it a bit, they kept the soul of the pub intact, and it always felt a bit scruffy round the edges. I had so many brilliant nights in there and I always remember thinking how lucky I was to have a such a fantastic pub 10 minutes’ walk from my house.

6. The beer (unlimited supply) you’d take to the desert island

It’s easy to get really conceited and snobby on this, so trying desperately to avoid this temptation I would take Fuller’s London Pride. Even though it’s out of Fuller’s hands, it’s not lost its quality. Sweet and treacle-like with the bitterness perfectly balanced, it drinks as good as ever in my humble opinion.  

Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider

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