Meet the 23-year-old landlady with loads of ideas to bring popular Northampton pub back to life

A popular Northampton pub in a prime location has just been taken over by a young landlady who is brimming with new ideas.

Olivia Keane, who says the pub industry has always been part of her, reopened The Gardeners Arms in Wellingborough Road on Saturday (August 7).

The 23-year-old worked as an assistant manager in a Wellingborough pub until June this year, when she decided to venture out on her own.

Within the space of only a few months, Olivia has managed to secure a 12-month rolling lease on the popular pub and has received ‘amazing’ feedback on her first few days in charge.

Olivia said: “I started off working in a pub, glass collecting like most people do.

“I worked there for two or three years and I thought to myself that I could run a pub, so I went self-employed to see what was out there.

“Luckily this pub popped up. I saw it was Wellingborough Road and I really wanted it.

“I didn’t think the owners would give me the lease because I’m so young.

“There were a lot of people interested in it and it took a little while, but they gave it to me.

“This is a dream come true for me and I never thought I’d be in this position at this age.”

Since she took over, Olivia has welcomed back regulars, who she says are ‘very important’ and she has also started to implement measures to entice a new clientele.

Olivia added: “The pub had been closed for nine months before I came in, so I was worried that regular customers would have gone elsewhere.

“Those regulars during the week are our bread and butter, as we know the weekends are always busy, so it’s important that we look after those regulars.

“Ever since we opened the doors on Saturday it has been amazing.

“Within two hours, we’d had ten old customers come back and it has been picking up ever since.”

From changing prices, which she has already done, to putting on DJ and karaoke events and extending opening hours, Olivia has a lot of ideas she wants to implement to breathe life back into the pub.

“This pub means a lot to a lot of people, but it was dying before it closed,” she continued.

“I think customers are surprised as they come in and ask who is in charge and when I say ‘me’ they ask if I have a partner.

“But I’m doing it on my own and I’m fine. People are really happy and I think they are inspired and want to see me succeed.

“They say it’s nice to see someone ‘young and fresh’ who has loads of ideas.

“And I’m so excited because there is so much potential here.”

Olivia has also kept on members of staff from who worked at the pub before she took it over.