The Old Horse in Leicester has reopened following an extensive renovation, marking the latest addition to The Beautiful Pubs Collective’s growing portfolio of revitalised pubs. With a focus on quality, community and wet-led occasions, the reopening signals both a significant investment in the site and a wider ambition to expand the group’s presence across the city.

The Pub Show spoke with Sam Hagger FBII, Managing Director of The Beautiful Pubs Collective, about the reopening, the thinking behind the redesign, and what it takes to build a modern pub business in 2026.

The Old Horse in Leicester has just reopened after extensive renovation. How was opening day, and how did it feel to see customers coming through the door?

Our opening day was simply superb. We welcomed several hundred guests, both familiar and new, who were excited to see and experience the evolution of this iconic Leicester pub. The new team, supported by our existing pubs team, operations team, and experienced members of the wider business, were simply outstanding. True ambassadors for the reimagined pub, they were beautifully focused on the guest experience, which was a joy to be part of.

What makes The Old Horse a good fit for The Beautiful Pubs Collective?

The Beautiful Pubs Collective is locally recognised for revitalising iconic and well-known pubs, so this was a perfect opportunity. It is also balanced by the size and location of the pub, which provides the opportunity to contribute strongly back to the business over time, while also expanding our operations to the other side of the city and opening up further geographical potential.

What work has been done to the interior and exterior of the pub, and what was the goal of the redesign?

The ambition for this project was an emphasis on quality throughout. Despite a strong food proposition, it was important to reinforce that this is very much a pub, and we see wet-led occasions as the primary reason for a visit. In addition, we renewed and added facilities, from restrooms to kitchens, while also reviewing the entire project through a sustainability lens, from energy consumption to labour deployment.

Externally, the pub’s large frontage overlooking Victoria Park has been designed with London-style spacing to create an energetic space for casual occasions, while the rear garden, now complete with a full-service bar, terrace, and outdoor food offering, is designed to increase dwell time.

How have you engaged with the local community, and what plans do you have to engage the community going forwards?

Through our ‘People Equaliser’, we consistently weigh everything we do commercially against three pillars: our team, our guests, and the community we serve.

Alongside the pub being a registered RFU Rugby Club home for Aylestone Athletic, the pub is also home to several community groups, including the RAF. We factored their use of the pub into its reimagining, carefully retaining certain links to ensure continued allegiance.

As a group, we also run numerous community activities, including our BPC Wombles initiative, helping to keep our local villages and surrounding areas as beautiful as our pubs.

Tell us about the pub’s new F&B offering

We’ve developed an offering that is uncomplicated, quality-led, and delivers real value for our guests and their occasions. From proper lunchtime toasties, to traditional pub snacks, small plates, and pub classics, the menu is simple, fresh, and deliverable.

On Sundays, we swap the pub classics for our Sunday roasts: dry-aged local beef, thick-cut pork cutlets, and chicken supremes, served with vegetables and gravy family-style.

Our everyday pizza offering from the pub’s open kitchen showcases beautiful hand-stretched Neapolitan-style pizzas, perfect for quicker dining occasions such as visits to the nearby De Montfort Hall venue.

Externally, we have a Germanic-inspired beer garden menu alongside freshly whipped Jersey Gold ice cream to ease demand on the main kitchens during peak summer days, when the pub’s capacity doubles.

What has been your approach to bringing in and training a new team?

As a business, we have grown steadily over the years, led by opportunity but also by the growth and ambition of our existing teams.

Every member of our new team was shortlisted remotely, then invited in for a one-hour face-to-face session with someone currently working in that department, alongside a member of the People or Operations team. This ensured the sessions covered all bases for both us and the candidate, and that offers of employment were made to people we could genuinely see thriving with us and living our values.

A training and implementation programme for The Old Horse ran over two weeks, including some sessions led by myself on values, hospitality & wellbeing, then pub basics, the guest journey, and service dry runs by the wider team. 

What makes you optimistic about the future of the pub sector in 2026?

It has never been more difficult to operate a hospitality business. The constant background noise of cost increases and inflation is no fun. However, I said to our team last year that we should accept we have now reached a Rubicon moment and double down on everything we do for our guests and teams.

We must be relentless on detail, not just control, and drive topline growth by investing in occasions that give our guests more reasons to visit, while hopefully creating more opportunities for us and our teams.

Can you share any future plans for The Beautiful Pubs Collective?

For now, the focus is on being as good as we can be for our guests at The Old Horse and across the wider collective. However, if we continue to move in the right direction and retention stays at its current high level, we will be well positioned in the medium term to explore further development opportunities as they present themselves.

What does it mean to you to be an independent pub business?

I am extremely proud of what we have achieved over the past nearly 18 years. The business is now becoming a young adult, with the experience and maturity I feel it deserves to enjoy.

For me, leading a business full of exceptional people is the biggest reward, but being able to make quick decisions for the benefit—or sometimes protection—of all is also very important.

I am incredibly proud to see the careers our business has helped start, and the ongoing impact it has on the wider hospitality community.

Learn more about The Old Horse at theoldhorse.co.uk and The Beautiful Pubs Collective at beautifulpubs.co.uk