The husband and wife team behind The Prince George pub are hoping for a summer of good weather and English footballing success after a tough few years for the industry.
Sandra and Mark Burrows recently celebrated three years at the helm of the popular boozer in St Albans Road, Watford, formerly known as the Leviathan.
However, they faced a baptism of fire amidst the outbreak of the Covid pandemic followed by a cost-of-living crisis in their early days behind the jump.
After moving to the UK from South Africa in November 2020, their newly christened pub was open for just one day before the country was plunged back into Covid-19 lockdown.
Sandra, 53, said: “It’s been a real struggle. Last year wasn’t a good year, we struggled a lot, but this year we’re seeing a bit of an uptick.”
“We were putting on music, but it was pointless because we had a band playing but nobody in the pub, so we were just losing money”.
The pair revealed that they even considered closing the pub at the end of last year after a bruising 12 months but are now hopeful for the future.
A steady uptick of customers and the prospect of good weather has left them cautiously optimistic about the months ahead.
Mark, 55, said: “What we are seeing is that people want to be out when they can, they want to be visiting pubs.”
They pointed to this summer Euro Championships, where Watford-born Gareth Southgate will look to take his side all the way to glory in Germany.
Despite being South African, Sandra and Mark will be rooting for the Three Lions and hope it will help keep the till ringing and beer flowing in June.
Sandra added: “Our hope this summer is to take advantage of our beer garden, we’re going to have some South African style barbecues and of course we have the Euros”.
“If the weather is good and the football is good, we’re going to have a great summer”.
The Prince George initially struggled to separate itself from the bad reputation of its previous name but Sandra and Mark feel they’re building up a good community of regular faces and establishing a reputation as a family friendly, dog friendly pub.
Mark, despite not being a professional chef, has earned rave reviews for his Sunday Roast with one pubgoer telling him it was the best they’ve ever had – something he describes as “a great feather in the cap”.
Why not give the Prince George in St Albans Road, Watford, a visit and show your support.
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