Brunning and Price opens new Wirral pub

Pub restaurant operator Brunning and Price, owned by the Restaurant Group, has opened a new site named the Red Fox, in Thornton Housh in the Wirral.

The 180-seat property is the group's 52nd opening, and is on the site of the former Grange Country Club. It has landscaped grounds, a terrace and an open fire, and offers its own individual food menu, beer, and wine.

The opening is the latest in the group's continued expansion, which is running at about four to five new sites a year.

Managing director Mary Willcock explained that the company had wanted to open in the Wirral for a number of years, but wanted to find the right space. She explained that the Red Fox had airy rooms but also many "nooks and crannies" that could provide a more intimate setting.

She said: "It was essential we found the right site…[and this has rooms] for people to squirrel away in if they're so inclined."

Founded in 1981 by Jerry Brunning, the company began as just one pub: the Bell in Surrey, quickly joined by the Fox Revived near Gatwick, and the Great Eastern in Brighton.

More expansion followed until the firm was bought by the Restaurant Group in 2007 for £32m, which then bought pub company Blubeckers in 2010, amalgamating the two under the Brunning and Price banner. Today there are over 50 pub restaurants in the UK-wide group.

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