Family run Morpeth pub embraces “rapid growth” with recruitment of local staff

The Anglers Arms, a family run pub in Choppington, is embracing “rapid growth with profits soaring” as well as welcoming new staff members to the team.

The pub is praising business support programme, Business Northumberland for its unique offering of “diverse and fully funded support”.

Joanne McGarry opened the pub in 2019 with support from her family. With the family working in various roles across the business the pub is now looking to expand its workforce, creating more jobs for the local area.

Joanne and sister Brenda McIntosh, who is the marketing manager for the pub, were keen to further develop their skill set to ensure the pub and B&B is a success, and so applied for support from Business Northumberland.

Business Northumberland provides support to small and medium enterprises across the North East who are looking to sustain and grow their business online. The fully funded support programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Advance Northumberland, thus there is no cost to eligible businesses when accessing the support.

Joanne was appointed coach Sharon MacArthur to develop her Leadership & Management skills to help build skills around managing staff, processes and ensuring the day to day running of the business is at a high and consistent level.

Joanne continued: “We are currently taking part in their 12 hour growth programme to support us to help drive productivity, help with business processes and offer quality service levels. As a business we are always looking to improve things and learn as much as we can, and the Business Northumberland programme is just perfect for that.”

After welcoming six new members of staff to their team of 18, a total job increase of over 30 per cent the pub is creating jobs both full and part time in Choppington.

Damian Baetens, business support director at Transmit Consulting, said: “Joanne’s experience brilliantly illustrates how valuable it can be for business owners to take a step back from day-to-day operations to take a good look at the bigger picture and where they want to be.

“And this fully-funded programme means businesses in Northumberland can harness the knowledge of specialist coaches to reach their goals, without the price tag that usually comes with such expertise.”

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