Tiere Group Invests and Grows With Star

Tiere Group is to lease and refurbish The Red Lion at Shirley, its second pub with Star Pubs & Bars. The pub closes from 4th October for the joint £350,000 revamp, which will complete in early December, creating 30 new jobs.  It will transform the tired local into a great quality family-friendly pub with one of the best games rooms in the area. The pub will be renamed The Lion to signal its new direction.

The project will completely change the exterior of the 1950s pub to bring it into keeping with neighbouring buildings and enhance the centre of Shirley. The work will repaint The Lion and add new cladding, lighting and signs. Flower baskets, topiary hedges and café style seating on the pavement outside will complete the look. A little-used concrete courtyard behind the pub will become a 32-seater alfresco space with funky wall art, new furniture, a big screen and a covered all-weather area.

An equally dramatic revamp of the pub’s dated interior will make it more stylish and contemporary, installing leather-covered booths with their own mini TVs. A new kitchen will enable Tiere Group to extend the food offer. All meals will be made from scratch using ingredients sourced from nearby farms and suppliers. Dishes will focus on street food such as burgers, ribs and wings. Children will have their own menu. The Lion will also have a top-of-the-range barista-quality coffee machine, and will serve hot drinks and homemade cakes.

The Lion’s games room will be overhauled, and will provide space for functions as well. It will have its own bar, so that different groups of customers can be catered for simultaneously, and will be kitted out with pool, darts and screens.

Tiere Group also lease the award-winning Bulls Head at Barston, a village pub with boutique letting rooms. The company is now eyeing further growth with Star Pubs & Bars. Says Tiere Group co-founder Nick Johnson: “Star has provided us with fantastic support throughout the pandemic and has a very good reputation. We’re keen to develop the partnership and build up a group of ten leased pubs with them in the area south of Birmingham. The Bulls Head and The Lion are very different pubs but will have a similar feel and share the same ethos, systems and focus on quality. We’re open to taking on Star pubs in varied sectors as long as they have the ability to trade as more premium venues.”

Comments Star Pubs & Bars area manager Jacqueline Frow: “Tiere Group have done a brilliant job of turning round The Bulls Head and have increased sales five fold despite the pandemic. We’re delighted to be backing them with their exciting plans for The Lion. The investment will develop a range of income streams covering all day parts and occasions, making the pub a strong, sustainable business for the long term.”

The refurbishment of The Lion is part of Star Pubs & Bars’ 2021 £38m investment programme, which includes 80 major pub makeovers.