Help Our Hospitality: Historic town centre pub makes changes a year on from reopening in Northampton

A historic pub has made some changes to its offering, a year on from reopening at the heart of Northampton town centre.

The Shipmans, described as an iconic town pub steeped in history, is located in the Drapery and reopened last July after it underwent a huge transformation.

The public house was closed in 2014 and taken over by the McManus Pub Company a year later, which was heavily invested in bringing back a slice of history – dating back 233 years.

Tom McManus, the area manager for McManus Pub Company, wanted to share the latest changes that have been made to the venue as part of this week’s Help Our Hospitality coverage.

Since reopening after the “extensive refit” last year, they have traded in a “mixed capacity” – with a traditional food offering and a variety of cocktails and drinks.

It has been split across two floors, with a dining room upstairs and those visiting for drinks remaining downstairs.

“We’ve had unbelievable feedback and everyone’s enjoyed it,” said Tom, reflecting on the past year.

“The challenge is being a town centre business, next to the closed down Market Square. It’s a tricky place to be trading right now.”

As a small venue, Tom says the key is to crack the night trade, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

Over the past couple of weeks, the pub has put plans into action to become a more “uptempo” venue and tap into those visiting the town later on in the evening.

As part of that, a 2-for-1 drinks happy hour is now available from 4pm until 8pm from Monday to Thursday, 4pm until close on Friday, and all day on Saturday. More DJs and music events are also set to take place.

Tom said: “We wanted to take it from being a destination food pub, to a high tempo cocktail bar with the same focus on high quality products. It’s different food but the same quality.”

When you visit The Shipmans now, you can expect it to be “experience driven” with theatrical cocktails that are a take on well-known favourites.

When asked why now was the right time to make these changes, Tom said: “There’s never a right time. After a year of trading, we’d seen the positives and negatives and taken feedback on board.”

The team had to consider what they and the business wanted to be known for and deliver.

“We decided we want to be all about fun,” Tom added. “We want everyone to come into the venue to enjoy themselves and have a fantastic experience with great cocktails and food.”

Tom believes there was “mixed messaging” previously and it was “difficult” to get the message across that they were a late night venue, when they offered traditional food in a traditional pub.

Though The Shipmans still want to embrace the older generation of customers, who remember their relatives visiting the pub, they also want to attract a new and younger audience.

The food menu has adapted from hearty and traditional options to tapas-like small plates and sharer dishes.

“The concept is the sort of place you’d go with four or five friends, get some cocktails, share plates of food and have a dance,” said Tom.

When asked what he believes sets The Shipmans apart from other town centre venues, Tom said: “We put a lot of focus on delivering great experiences and the team are hugely engaged in what they’re doing.

“Day-to-day we offer fantastic value with our 2-for-1 deal in a history-steeped building, which has been renovated and restored to an extremely high quality.”

Cocktail experiences and masterclasses, and immersive film nights with related cocktails and food menus, are just a glimpse into the “great experiences” they are committed to offering.

For more information on upcoming events at The Shipmans, visit the venue’s website here.