Pubgoers in Westcliff have a smart new venue to enjoy - a £1million pub in a former bank building.
The new pub, The Trading Room, is set to welcome its first customers when it opens its doors tonight.
Room at the top - The Trading Room manager Stuart Martin and owner Paul Barthaud outside the new pub Picture: MIKE MINERS
The Trading Room, in London Road, Westcliff, is the new first licensed premises to open in the area for some time.
The bar is the latest investment in the town by the fast-expanding Estuary Pub Company.
Like two of the firm's existing pubs in the borough, it is in a former bank - the old Crowstone Road branch of the NatWest.
The business, which is operated by the Barthaud family, has made an investment of nearly £1million in the scheme.
The Trading Room is the company's third new pub to open in Southend in the last two years.
During that time, Paul Barthaud has opened Mariners Court, in Broadway, Leigh, and The Exchange, in Southchurch Road, Southend.
In addition, he operates The Hamlet Court, in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, and Bellini's, in London Road, Leigh.
Both The Exchange and The Hamlet Court were formerly banks - and there is still a Barclays cash machine in use outside The Exchange.
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003
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