‘Elated’ owners as plans for new craft beer pub in Daventry town centre have been approved

The plans for a new craft beer pub in Daventry town centre have been approved.

Husband and wife, Richard Clifford and Nikki Squires have been given the green light to convert the venue previously traded as an art cafe at 30 Sheaf Street into a craft ale pub called The Ale Pole.

Nikki said: “My husband and I were elated. We had to take a bit of a risk and take on the lease, hoping that the planning permission would be granted.

“We’re really happy. It means we can push forward now with all the work we want to do in the building and open as soon as we can.”

West Northamptonshire Council approved the plans on Thursday, February 8, after no objections were submitted.

Richard and Nikki have already started the work at the location.

“We’ve started as soon as we got the go-ahead,” said Nikki.

The husband and wife from Lutterworth signed the lease for the Grade II listed building formerly occupied by the Evergreen Art Cafe on January 26.

“We want to make sure the character of the building is retained and enhanced, but equally, we want to make it as accessible as possible. We are currently working with the conservation team to look at how accessible we can make it, keeping in mind the restrictions,” said Nikki.

According to Nikki, their initial "target date" for opening is either the end of March or the middle of April.

“It just depends on how quickly we can get things done,” said Nikki.

To start with, the husband and wife want to serve a range of craft beers from around the country, as well as “traditional cider, wine, and regional spirits” and “homemade bar snacks.”

Within a couple of weeks of opening, Nikki wants to offer a “small food offer,” including platters and sandwiches.

“After that, we will then look at how we’re doing and how things are going, talk to our customers about how they would like things to develop, and go from there," said Nikki.

The husband and wife set up a Facebook page and are planning to post progress updates over the next few weeks.