00:00Yeah, so just to start off with a bit of information about you, so what's your name and what's
00:07your position going to be at the club as well?
00:10So my name's David, David Cross, and I'm going to be the new manager at Tommy Cutler's Bar,
00:15which is next door to the new Philly on Foxhill Road, central Blackpool, near Central Pier.
00:21Are you local to Blackpool, where do you live?
00:24Originally not, I was born and raised in Birmingham, but I've lived in Blackpool for 20 years now,
00:30I live here with my wife and young child, so I know the area well, I've worked in Blackpool
00:35for many, many years, so yeah, in the entertainment industry actually, so the pool trade is something
00:42that's a little bit newer to me, but we're excited about it.
00:45What specific road are you down to share, if you're not comfortable?
00:48Where I live?
00:49Yeah.
00:50Well it's near Ginn Square, so North Shore.
00:52Right.
00:53Yeah, that's where I'm from, yeah.
00:55How old are you sir?
00:56I'm 43 years young, yeah.
00:59So, what was your reaction when you saw that this, I suppose next door, was available to turn into the bar
01:10and buy that opportunity for yourself?
01:12Yeah, so I've got a good working relationship with the people that have the Philly, the new Philly that own this,
01:18so it's the same owners as next door, so I've worked here at the Philly for about five years,
01:27so the owner approached me and asked me if I'd be interested in managing the new bar,
01:31which was the first I'd heard that it was a done deal.
01:34Yeah, very excited and I think it can only help the local area, especially this end of town,
01:39I think the more bars we can get here and things to encourage people down, it can only be a good thing,
01:45so yeah, I'm excited for it, yeah.
01:48So, how's it all been going, how's the process been going to set it all up?
01:58As with any big project, I mean, it was the Jack Russell before was the pub,
02:03so it's literally been gutted from, everything's been taken out completely,
02:08so it's stripped right back to bare brick and then we're starting again,
02:11so the owners have got a very clear vision in mind of how they want the bar to be,
02:16how it can be perceived, so it's going to be quite bougie is the word I suppose that we're looking for,
02:21so quite trendy, tricky, so yeah, and as with any big project like that,
02:26some weeks it goes very rapidly and you see massive changes,
02:30other weeks it can seem that not much has been done or you're relying on a lot of moving parts,
02:34your workmen and things and work loads, but we're on schedule, we think at the moment,
02:41so it was the back end of August, last week in August, fingers crossed.
02:46Yeah, so you said that the owners have a very specific vision of what they want the pub to be like, what is that vision?
02:52I think they want it to be something where everybody's welcome into the bar,
02:56it's an over-18s venue, whereas this, it's the next door to the Phillies, our family venue,
03:01so I think what we're aiming for is within the whole site is to cater for everybody,
03:06so from families, obviously we've got the over-18s bar next door,
03:10which will be a little bit more cocktail orientated, tapas sort of menu,
03:14then upstairs we have our sports bar, which obviously we show all the football and things like that,
03:19and we have an events room at the back as well, which is free to hire,
03:22so we're sort of trying to open ourselves up to every kind of customer, every client base,
03:29so everybody will be welcome, but I think specifically for next door,
03:33we want to offer that sort of next level of drink and food and service, if that makes sense,
03:41so if people want that, then that's where they'll come, so that's our aim,
03:45but like I say, everybody's welcome, we have different ranges of food and products and things,
03:51so hopefully it's something for everybody, and the views upstairs are absolutely stunning across the water,
03:56which I'll gladly take you to have a look at in a minute.
04:00So you talked a little bit about cocktail spots, what kind of drinks, what's going to be on the menu?
04:06So, ranging cocktails, we'll have some signature ones that are just obviously tailored towards our own branding,
04:13and then the normal ones that you can expect, your martinis, cosmopolitans, things like that, the fish bowls,
04:20we've got a lot of good sponsors for the breweries and things,
04:22so we'll be seeing a lot of AU vodka and things like that in there,
04:26and Prosecco, we've got a young guy called TJ that's going to come along and hopefully do some cocktail work for us,
04:34who can do all the juggling and shaking and bits and bobs,
04:37so we want it to be a bit of an experience, if you ask for a cocktail you can see it'll be made fresh in front of you,
04:43all the garnish is fresh and everything, so you can have all that with a bit of tapas, you can sit with the nice views,
04:48or if there's a group of lads and they just want to wander in for a couple of beers on a stag do or whatever,
04:55that's what we aim at, everybody's welcome, but we're going to offer things in that bar that we don't necessarily offer in this bar,
05:02if that makes sense.
05:03Are you trying to open it up to everyone?
05:04Yeah, I think so, yeah.
05:06Get their experience of what they want?
05:08Yeah, 100%, and learn from that, I think we'll be very customer focused,
05:12so we'll be asking them questions on their experience, how they've found it, what they'd like to see being introduced,
05:18we try and open it up, as you know these days social media is massive, so we're on Instagram and everything like that,
05:22so we'll be asking for a lot of feedback and photos and things they want to see,
05:26we'll be running competitions, special offers for locals, all that sort of business, yeah.
05:32How important do you think that having a new business open on this side of the South Shore?
05:39Yeah, Central, yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:41Is for the surrounding area?
05:44I think it's massive, I think any business opening, whether it be a bar or a shop or anything,
05:51it's massive, it brings job opportunities for A, it's another attraction for people to come to this end of town,
05:57and not only for us, if they get into the bar spending, they're going to need taxis,
06:01they're going to need things from the shop, they might need cigarettes or vapes or whatever,
06:04so it's only going to help all the surrounding businesses too,
06:07so yeah, we're always fully supportive of wanting people to open up business around us,
06:12and a healthy competition is good competition, so that's good.
06:17So, what was your, how did it feel taking on this venture, of the pool next door?
06:34Yeah, excited about it really, I think it's going to be really positive for the area,
06:39it's going to be a nice inviting environment for people to come to,
06:43and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it and driving it and getting people in and enjoying themselves,
06:48and hopefully spending their money with us, and relaying that on their social medias,
06:53I'm excited basically to get involved and stuck in.
06:57What would success look like for the bar next door when it's open for everyone then?
07:04What was that, sorry?
07:06What would success look like for that bar?
07:08What would success look like?
07:11Obviously the busier the better, but I think to be honest the reputation building,
07:15and building up of the brand and people recognising it's a safe environment to come to,
07:20with a good product, a good price, and they can have a comfortable evening,
07:25so I think that would be successful, obviously social media is massive, so it's a push on there,
07:30we are planning a bit of a VIP soft launch, so we can invite some friends and get some feedback,
07:37and I think to be honest, because we're a locally based company,
07:41we're not just depending on our holiday makers, we want to encourage the locals to feel like they can come,
07:46and it's for them too, so I think success for us on that front would be that the local community feel like it's a good place,
07:54and if they're owning B&Bs or whatever, they're telling their guests about us,
07:59and just word of mouth on the street that it's a nice place to come to, and vice versa,
08:02I think it's important that we all work together.
08:05What are the prices like for various locations?
08:08Just varies really, we find that our pricing is more than competitive with local bars,
08:16and we get a lot of feedback from our customers that they're quite shocked how cheap we are in certain parts,
08:24but again it ranges, so it depends what you're buying, it's the same as everything,
08:27so we offer something for everybody basically, whatever their budget, what they're looking to spend,
08:34as long as they're having a good time, then that's it, we offer everything to everybody.
08:39Do you have a specific date for when you're thinking of opening, or is it still up in the air?
08:45We have a date in mind, but as I mentioned before, with the magnitude of the rebuild,
08:53obviously there's still things that are happening, but we're hopeful for the end of August,
08:58I think that's an achievable opening time, but as soon as we have a fixed date,
09:03we'll announce it, we'll shout it from the rooftops, and we'll let everybody know about it.
09:08Perfect.
09:09Yeah, thank you.
09:10This is going to be our main venue here, the main room in the venue,
09:13and we're also going to be knocking through this part of the wall here,
09:16so it'll lead through into the little bar that we just did the interview in,
09:19next door that's having a refurb as well, there'll be a little stage area over here,
09:23where our performers will be and our DJs and things,
09:26we're going to have some TVs, plasma TVs around the room,
09:30over there will be our selfie wall with our signage on,
09:33so you can grab yourself a selfie and tag yourself on our Instagram
09:36and with a chance of winning some monthly prizes and things.
09:40This is our bar, which we're particularly excited about because it's going to look absolutely stunning,
09:45when it's done all this will be stainless steel around the bottom,
09:48and there'll be some uplights and everything as they'll be around in the roof,
09:51so it'll be lit up and be a really nice ambience, that's going to be our main entrance over there.
09:56Then we've got the nice bar area, we're going to have our cocktail station,
09:59because we're going to be serving lots and lots of fresh cocktails with fresh garnish and fresh ingredients,
10:03with our cocktail waiter TJ that's going to be coming along and doing that,
10:06so get yourselves down, you can see him doing all the juggling and all that bits and bobs.
10:09We're having our pumps put in very soon, they're due to go in the next couple of days,
10:13all the cellar has been completed downstairs, so we'll have our cocktail station,
10:18we've got a glass shelving at the back which we'll have some drinks on obviously,
10:22and up to the top where it starts curving around,
10:24it's going to be almost like a fake bookcase effect but with bottles,
10:27so there'll be empty ones but it gives the effect of it curving over.
10:31We've got disabled toilets, we'll have a disabled access as well with a ramp obviously,
10:36and our disabled toilets will be downstairs, fire exit at the back,
10:40and if you want to follow me to my favourite part,
10:43just watch your step here Luke, and go up the stairs,
10:46because you want to see these views, absolutely stunning.
10:50So we're going to walk around the stairs, there'll be glass balustrades all the way up here obviously,
10:53so it'll be nice and safe and all around here.
10:56There'll be a nice chandelier hanging from here hopefully when that arrives,
10:59as you can see there's still bits of rubble and bits are still in the process.
11:04As you come up here, this will be like a little sort of lounge where you can come and relax,
11:10again with some drinks, some wine, some cocktails, a bit of tapas,
11:14bits of through in the back, and then if you come round here just be very careful Luke with your footing.
11:21I just want to show you this view of our beautiful black pool in it's all of her glory.
11:27So you can sit here, there'll be a nice glass balustrade, a little sort of Juliet balcony here,
11:31so you can sit and enjoy your cocktails with your partners and look across that beautiful ocean there,
11:38and have a cup of tea, there we go.
11:41Stunning views, sit back and relax in a lovely environment,
11:46so we hope to see you all down here at Tommy Cutler's and the opening date is to be announced very, very soon.
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