The revamp of The Wheel on Main Street is being undertaken by Heineken-owned Star Pubs and new licensee Jason Billingham, who has over 20 years’ experience in pubs and restaurants around the UK. It will transform the rundown local into a top-quality village pub serving excellent food.
Work begins on the 12th May and The Wheel is scheduled to reopen in mid-June creating more than 15 jobs.
The investment will completely renovate the outside of the Grade II listed pub – which dates back to the early 1800s – enhancing the centre of Ticknall. Works will include repainting the building and adding new signage and lighting. There will be a sheltered courtyard garden to the rear kitted out with smart new furniture, parasols and festoon lighting.
The overhaul will make over the inside of the pub with a stylish contemporary décor that incorporates warm colours and existing features like the old inglenook fireplace, timber floors and beams. In terms of layout, The Wheel will have a spacious bar serving drinks and food and a 50-seater dining area on the mezzanine floor above opening onto the garden.
Jason wants to put The Wheel on the map for the quality of its food and drink. To that end the kitchen will be refitted to enable a focus on freshly prepared food and state-of-the-art dispense equipment will be installed to ensure consistently perfect pints. Local suppliers will be used where possible, with meat coming from a Derby butchers and gins from the White Peak distillery. The menu will change seasonally and range from traditional pub favourites, such as sausages and mash, to French classics like boeuf bourguignon. Tarte flambé flatbreads – cooked to order in a pizza oven – and Sunday roasts will be specialities. On the drinks front, the selection will span barista quality coffee, cask ales and carefully selected wines. Customers’ four-legged friends have not been forgotten either and will have bowls of water and treats on the house.
Says Jason: “I’ve always wanted a pub of my own. I heard about The Wheel from some former regulars and fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. My aim is to restore it to the popular pub it was in the past and make it part of the community once again. The new designs are fantastic; The Wheel will look beautiful when the works are done. I can’t wait to open the doors and show everyone the changes.”
Adds Star Pubs’ investment manager Craig Foweather: “We’re delighted to be joining forces with Jason to reopen such a landmark pub. His plans for The Wheel are spot on; it will be a superb local for the village as well as a destination dining spot for those from further afield. We’ll be working flat out to open the doors again in time for the summer.”