The owner of an American restaurant chain remains keen to open a branch in Wilmslow and is currently looking for a new property.
Hickory's Smokehouse proposed to convert The Unicorn pub on Adlington Road into an American barbecue restaurant but, as reported on wilmslow.co.uk last week, they withdraw their planning application for an extension and change of use from A4 (drinking establishment) to A3 (restaurant).
The Cheshire-based pub and restaurant company met with some opposition, as a group of local residents set up a 'Save the Unicorn' campaign to voice their disapproval of the proposed refurbishment, collecting over 1000 signatures on their petition.
Hickory's owner, Neil McDonnell said. "As a lover of real ale and pubs myself, I understand that our local pubs are very important to us. In fact I understand this better than most, because fifteen years ago, I scraped my money together, took the plunge and opened a pub myself in Chester. It is still thriving to this day, with a great bunch of regulars and a long-serving team looking after them."
Neil continued. "We all like to feel a little ownership of our local pub, and people quite naturally can be resistant to change. Our regular guests are at the centre of everything we do. After all, we rely on them to tell us if we are getting things right. From selecting which local ales to feature, right through to voting on which dishes appear on our menus, our locals are always involved.
"It is a real shame we couldn't make it work with the handful of regulars at The Unicorn Inn."
Hickory's told wilmslow.co.uk that the main reason for withdrawing the plans was because the size of the extension was considered too ambitious. They wanted to increase the size of the kitchen to enable them to cope with the number of covers and feel that they cannot make the concept work on the present scale. As a result the company is now looking at other properties in the area and hopes to be able to share their plans very soon.
Neil added. "We are always happy to hear comments, suggestions and answer questions, and I'd be particularly happy to hear from anyone in Wilmslow who is still unsure what we are about... so please contact us on - [email protected]."
Steve Cummings, who has been running the campaign, said "The Save the Unicorn group is very pleased that Hickory's Smokehouse have decided not to pursue their takeover of the Unicorn Inn, Dean Row.
"We were advised by Mary Barrett, the Manager of the pub, that Spirit Group now has its own plans to invest in the business while it remains a traditional English country pub.
"We would like to thank everyone who gave their support to this campaign and wish Hickory's well in their future plans elsewhere."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
The pub has clearly underperformed so badly that it's ended up on the disposals list, so Spirit/Green King will want to turn it around somehow...
If I were a gambling man, I'd probably have half a crown on a Hungry Horse or a Fun Factory...
Congratulations.
However, I echo Mary's comments above and we are very hopeful that Spirit will now rebrand the pub into one of their better establishments or agree to sell to lease to someone who will.
As Mary says, we encourage people to give the Unicorn another chance, it has suffered under a succession of poor managers but is once again on the up.