Regulars team up to buy their local

WHEN four friends heard their local pub landlord and landlady were retiring, they decided to buy the bar and run it themselves.

Now the Horseshoe on Chipping Sodbury High Street has relaunched under new management.

Landlord Matt Lewis says he hopes it will continue to play a role in the town’s thriving pub scene.

Matt was bar manager for six years until landlords Gill Dyer and Dave Jeal, who founded the pub in what was previously their house, announced they were planning to retire last year.

He said regulars Tony Wiggington and Steve Sands, who run a local logistics company, and accountant Paul Freeman, came together and bought the place in December – and asked him to stay on as a co-director and landlord.

Matt said: "They are great influence and support, and I get their guidance on the business, but they let me get on and run the pub.”

Even Matt’s wife Joanne has joined the team as pub landlady, working behind the bar serving customers.

The pub is in one of the town’s oldest buildings, dating