Hull’s first community pub opens its doors with promise to deal with “unfinished business”
BACK IN BUSINESS: Simon Berry, left, with Jamie Reading
By Phil Ascough
Hull’s first community-owned pub will open this weekend with the returning manager looking forward to tackling some “unfinished business” five years after he was forced out by Covid.
Jamie Reading told The Hull Story he has been eager to pick up where he left off in March 2020, when The New Clarence was becoming established as a destination for great beer and food and a family feeling among staff and customers.
Community and personality have been at the forefront of his planning in building a new team, and after several “soft opening” evenings this week they will open the doors of the pub in Charles Street officially on Saturday, with the pub’s famous Sunday lunches set to return when the kitchen reopens the following day.
Jamie said: “It’s very rare to find a community pub in a city centre, and to have the opportunity to be involved in that is amazing.
“A lot of people have shown interest in coming to work here and I have put together a team that can work together. They all bring great personality and they want to interact with the community, getting along with customers and with each other. Anyone can learn anything in the pub trade and I am happy to teach people, but a good personality is what’s most important.”
The New Clarence closed in 2023. Simon Berry, chair of The Hull Community Pub Society Limited, told how the organisation was formed in January 2025 with the aim of raising enough money to buy and renovate the pub.
A government grant from the Community Ownership Fund was secured to buy the building in April 2024 and the pub was sold to the Society in February 2025 after Kingston Apartments agreed to abandon plans to convert it for residential use.
In announcing the re-opening, Simon confirmed that the Society had 460 shareholders who each paid a minimum £100, with some paying thousands of pounds.
At the beginning of this week the Society still had £9,000 shares to sell but Simon revealed that more have been snapped up with investor confidence buoyed by the opening.
He said: “Some said it would never happen. Well, on Saturday our dream will become a reality. This is people power; the public coming together to create Hull’s first community owned pub. We cannot wait to welcome you back to The New Clarence.”
The layout of the pub has not changed and the offer is still based around a range of quality real ales and ciders, with a good selection of lagers. The new chef Sam Ball has created a menu which features traditional pub favourites and vegetarian and vegan options.
‘PHENOMENAL’: Jamie, centre, with his new team
Behind the scenes there have been renovations to reinstate the kitchen and cellar and to install an accessible toilet and a lift shaft. Funds from the shares will go towards completing the renovation of the function room and installing the lift.
Simon said: “It’s been phenomenal, from the vision that we had to the people responding, wanting to be a part of it and buying shares. It’s quite humbling.
“The interest it has generated and the following we have built up on social media shows how much people have been looking forward to Hull’s first community pub.
“We’ve had messages of support from people who remember attending functions here and who still talk about the quality of the Sunday lunch! We want to build on all of that and create new memories with new customers.
“It’s a real ale pub that serves food. It’s not a restaurant that serves beer, but we want quality with everything. Phase two will be the function room and that will be twice the size it used to be.
“We have had a great set of volunteers coming in to help us. They heard about the project and read about it and without them we would not be where we are now, ready to open.”
Jamie added: “When I was here before it was a busy pub and we were getting ready for expansion but Covid came and I gave up the lease because it was only for a year.
“By then I had already noticed how busy the pub could be with the theatre crowd and the neighbours in the area and I could see the value in reopening it. When someone said they were looking for a manager here I had to think about whether I wanted to come back into the industry.
“There was an attraction with what the Society were trying to create here and with me wanting another shot at something I didn’t get the chance to do properly. It’s very much a case of unfinished business.
“There are people on the committee who are superheroes. They have done things I couldn’t believe. I want them to be able to come in and enjoy the results of all the work they have put in over the years.”