Seafood Pub Company reopens Hesketh Arms after £1million refurb

Seafood Pub Company completes £1m first phase at The Hesketh Arms, its largest single-site investment to date.

Seafood Pub Company, the pub group co-owned by Joycelyn Neve and Dermot King, has reopened The Hesketh Arms in Rufford, West Lancashire, following a £1m refurbishment. It is the largest single-site investment in the company’s history. The pub reopened on Monday (November 9) after closing at the end of September for the works.

The first phase has increased capacity to 160 covers and added an open kitchen with a pizza oven, a separate outdoor dining terrace and a family-friendly outdoor area. The pub now serves food all day from 12pm, and the increased capacity and move to all-day trading has created more than 20 new jobs. The menu pairs the group’s core offer and seasonal specials championing local produce with pizzas, added to widen the pub’s appeal to families and across more trading occasions. 

A second phase, planned for next year, will add ten bedrooms. This will bring The Hesketh Arms in line with most of the estate, which operates as pubs with rooms.

Neve, Founder and Managing Director, said: “The Hesketh Arms is our biggest single investment to date and our first major project for some time. We have kept what makes it a strong community local, while building a destination dining offer that can trade all day. Phase two will add ten bedrooms next year. Alongside that we are actively looking for new sites in 2027 as well as continuing to invest in our existing estate. We are six pubs and growing, and this project shows the level we want to invest at as we grow.”