Brewhouse & Kitchen Southsea Official Brewery Ceremony Held
Brewhouse & Kitchen Southsea have celebrated the official opening of its Southsea brewpub — Southsea’s first onsite brewpub and brewery.
The brewery ceremony, held on 31st January, saw the opening and naming ceremony of the brewery itself, welcoming all to take part in the festivities which included bar games, live entertainment, and complimentary drinks. The Southsea pub marked the 22nd site of the 23 experience-led brewpubs across the country and was originally the White Horse.
After opening up the naming to the groups Facebook customers, the final name chosen by popular demand was The Cockleshell Brewery, a nod to the brave soldiers who departed from Portsmouth & Southsea to complete a daring raid on shipping in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during the Second World War.
Simon Bunn, Co-Founder of Brewhouse & Kitchen, said: “We are excited to continue delivering our experience-led brewpubs to communities across the UK and are looking forward to welcoming the Southsea community whilst providing an excellent service to visitors and residents. The site is rich with history and we are very conscious of the coastal location, so we have kept as much of the character as possible. This is a prime seaside setting and we think this will make this venue a special place for all of the people of Southsea to enjoy. We are looking forward to making lots of local friends in the area. The venue came to us with untapped potential and a stunning garden which allows us to offer a unique pub experience with open doors.”
Founded in 2011 by pub industry veterans Simon Bunn and Kris Gumbrell, the fast-growing SME has 23 sites across the country, eight of which have opened in the past two years, with over 400 employees and one of the largest award-winning beer portfolios in the world. With the pub industry facing challenging times, Simon and Kris saw an opportunity to acquire high-quality buildings to convert into Brewhouse and Kitchen pubs — influenced by the growing trend of craft beer and specialty food.
