Hello, let us introduce ourselves.

We are Lee and Michelle Meredith who run The Angel, Toddington. We often think back to how we first fell into this trade. Lee's employment history goes back to when he ran major corporate events all over the country whilst managing go-karting events for international celebrities like Tom Cruise, Sharon Davies and Colin McRae. He then continued his employment as a high-speed test driver at Millbrook Proving ground. This suited his passion for cars and motorbikes. Michelle worked at The Raven, Hexton, to supplement the pennies and to return to employment after starting a family - initially as a waitress/kitchen assistant. Within a couple of weeks she was asked if she would like to take on the position of trainee chef as the regular chef was leaving. Before long, what started as a part-time job soon developed into a full time position working around Lee's work at Millbrook and very soon Michelle was offered the role of Kitchen Manager.

Five years later, Jack Emery took on The White Horse at Southill as a second pub with the intention of building. The managers resigned before the refurbishment so therefore Jack had to advertise the positions read for the re-opening. Lee suggested that we should apply, intially Jack was a little reluctant but nevertheless he was prepared to take the risk as he had no doubts that Michelle could run the kitchen, although neither of us had any front of house experience at all. Lee had ridden a motorbike at 195 miles per hour and driven a car at 170 miles per hour - Michelle could cope with 300 meals per shift, but neither of us had ever pulled a pint.

We were offered a six-month probationary period, but had only six weeks before our Grand Opening! Lee had to undergo intensive training and to travel hundreds of miles to attend all the relevant courses available to him within that six-week limit, as well as gaining as much hands-on experience as possible about the everyday running of a pub. Meanwhile, Michelle had to hand over the reigns to the second shef at The Raven so that the running and standards weren't affected by her leaving.

We launched our new venture on June 19th 2000 with much trepidation! We were amazed how successful our introduction into this life was. In less than 3 months we were told that we had surpassed all expectations and had definitely passed our probationary period. We spent two demanding years at The White Horse catering for 100 covers in house, a further 100 on the patio and 200+ in the extensive garden. This, along with conference/private function facilities for 30 and a function hall with its own bar and kitchen for 150+ covers. This area was also a new thing for us - weddings, christenings, birthdays and during December, Christmas Party Nights with Disco, every night until midnight for 80 people! The projected financial forecast submitted for the initial year of trading (which was traditionally grossly optimistic!) we blew straight out of the water within six months and the same the following year, even though the goal posts were moved almost out of sight.

After driving The White Horse from "Zero to Hero" we felt the buzz of turning an almost hopeless goal to reality and had the thirst to do it all again! We took an almost impossible gamble by moving to a far inferior venue less than a mile down the road, slap band in the centre of a trio of well-established, high volume food outlets. We were very enlightened by the fact that not only our regulars but also most of our staff insisted on following us shortly afterwards as they were pining for the homely ambience that they felt with us (their words, not ours!)

Just over 2 years on and once again we had really made our mark on this venture by increasing the turnover from £4,000 per week to £14,000, but were beginning to yearn to put out own identity and ideas on things and not have to be limited by "the boss's" views and opinions. Which meant the only way forward was to take the plunge and invest ourselves, so then the quest began to seek out the right place for our dreams. What better place than The Angel. Or was it? We saw The Angel was available so we contacted Peter straight away, unfortunately though we were too late - it had already been agreed to someone. We were devestated! And even though The Angel was no longer available it was agreed that we should put a business plan together, just in case something went wrong. One month passed and suddenly, out of the blue, we received a phone call from Peter telling us that The Angel had fallen through and that the offer was there if we still wanted it. It was ideal timing for us as Christmas was over and our commitments at The Swan would be easier to hand over. So we decided The Angel was the way forward.

We spent 2 weeks "under cover" trolling around Toddington casing the joint. After hearing all the derogatory comments about how unsuccessful the refurb had been and how there would be yet again new management and another re-opening, we knew that this would be our biggest challenge to date. We decided this would be the pub for us as it showed great potential, so we had 6 weeks (yes, 6 weeks again) to prepare ourselves for the grand opening only this time we had to do it whilst running The White Swan. As usual we got a great deal of support from our current team, friends and family and any spare time wa spent at The Angel. We had a whole series of things to contend with, ranging from general cleaning to redecorating to plumbing. The pub itself had been closed for some time and due to the way it had closed there were several things that had been vandalised/sabotaged. As we have a family it was just as important to get our living quarters as functional as the pub so therefore, it meant we had twice the amount to do. Painters/decorators and plumbers worked around the clock to put things right so that carpets could be laid or cleaned. Meanwhile we had endless tasks of contacting supplies to arrange meetings so we could kit out our new venture. One thing we did not envisage when we took on The Angel was to have to renew all the furniture. The value of the existing furniture was £6,000 but it cost over £16,000 to replace. Our main concern though was that the clock was ticking and that amount of furniture takes time to produce, (time was something we didn't have) but due to the trusting relationship we had built over the years with out suppliers we knew they would not let us down.

We were very lucky; as our previous reputation for managing pubs was well known by most of the companies we were dealing with, therefore, setting up accounts with them wasn't too difficult. This was good as The Angel had a very poor credit history, so poor in fact that we were dealing with court summons and bailiffs on a day-to-day basis. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together so all we had to do was design a menu, decide on the day of opening, get in all the stock we needed, start the beginning of our launch and oh yes - move house! It was decided that we would open on March 13th, as the furniture wasn't arriving until the 10th, which incidentally was our son's birthday. The first move of our launch was a simple board placed outside the pub just introducing us to the village which attracted a great deal of interest and we visited the local bakers daily for coffee and cake, just so we could get them talking about us to all their customers (and to sample all their cakes). We left our mobile number on the answer phone so any possible future booking could contact us even though the pub wasn't even trading.

We left The White Swan on March 1st along with out Assistant Manager, chef and one bar person, so we had 13 days to get organised (unlucky for some). Things went to plan. New upgraded equipment was installed; crockery, cutlery, menus, stock and furniture arrived on time. The pub was almost ready, all that was needed were a few soft furnishings to finish things off, so we arranged internal and external flower contracts and got all the boards and signage redone. Now was the time to stop spending and hopefully start earning as we had managed to spend the best part of £100,000!

On our opening night we invited all our suppliers, local Toddington businesses, friends and family and regulars from our previous pubs. It seemed to be a very successful evening in one way but opened our eyes to the challenge we had ahead of us!

Which brings us to where we are today and how we got there. The most important thing we had to do was target our clientele and the secret weapon we had for this wa a small blackboard in the public bar stating "ZERO TOLERANCE", please refrain from using bad language, this was enough to discourage the type of clientele we didn't want. After we had filtered out this trade we started to introduce the plans we had for The Angel. Our first thing wa the big screen with Sky Sports. This proved to be a hit and it didn't take long for us to get a reputation of having a civilised bar. Meanwhile, the restaurant took a bit longer, as the appearance of the pub gave the impression of being expensive. So, to combat this we decided to run a steak and ale night every Tuesday, which enabled you to get a steak meal with all the trimmings for £5 and a pint of ale for £2. We also introduced a lite-bite menu that consisted of smaller hot meals for only £4,95. It didn't take long for people to start sampling other things on the menu, and for them to realise there is such a thing as quality and good value. We have also taken on some in-house functions, which we have catered for with buffets and now we have a relationship with the local social club so they provide the room and we provide the foot, so as not to disappoint our regular public bar trade.

After introducing our daughter to the local school it became obvious to us that the village thrives on community spirit and that it was lacking something. That something was somewhere within walking distance that would accept families. So we made a point of involving our pub in most fund-raising events which eventually meant they approached us. So our first major event was a themed seventies evening which raised £500 for the school. We then introduced monthly good quality live music including an evening with Meatloaf - the "Stars In Their Eyes" finalist of 2004, which was a massive success. So much so, we repeated it for New Year's Eve and 180 tickets were sold in 10 days. The feedback from New Year was all positive and the question has already been asked if we would repeat it next year. So we have already enquired about this year's performer. In fact, the live music has become so popular that we have had to increase it to twice monthly, incorporating Live Jazz Sundays.

Due to the history of The Angel there have been a lot of bridges to rebuild with lunchtime trade and coach parties, as in the past the pub was not very consistent with its opening hours or serving times. Therefore, we have had to stick to these rigidly no matter what! The coach parties have slowly gained faith in us now and this has become a good source of regular trade.

The biggest gamble we have had to take (other than The Angel) was the patio. We knew that we desperately needed patio facilities but really could not afford them. It was a tough decision, but we took the risk and invested £5,000 on tables, chairs, parasols and heaters that would maximise the potential of the courtyard. The gamble paid off almost instantly, much to our relief and the visual change to the exterior brought in a sea of new faces, both locally and further afield. After a couple of months we had to review the patio to enable us to increase covers as it proved to be so popular.

To get The Angel to the stage it is at now has been what we feel a challenging achievement. A Greene King tenancy was the best decision we have ever made and we know we will always have great support only a phone call away if ever we need it, (we will take Peter up on that one day). There is still an on-going stream of things that we need and want to do to move The Angel forward - like extensive advertising, improving facilities and continuing staff training, but all this is why we made the move all those months ago!

Running The Angel has brought us plenty of rewards like a weekend at the Formula 1 Grand Prix and after running one of the brewery promotions (Fosters Cool 1000) we won a winter holiday to the value of £2,000 which was totally unexpected. The thing that drives us forward though is hearing from customers, both new and old, that The Angel offers an inviting and friendly atmosphere, which it had lacked for some time.

We have been named the Rovers Return of the village (we think that is a compliment) as there are 7 other pubs. Another customer who is now a very good friend said his family were going to emigrate but they have changed their mind because we have brought the village spirit alive again. This is more than we could have wished for in such a short time, but it is everything we need to keep the spirit of The Angel alive!