The Wolverhampton 'pub for all seasons' that's thriving under new management

After undergoing a £250,000 revamp in October last year, the pub, based on Penn Road, welcomed new management and is now thriving and serving both great food and drink.

Ravi Singh is the area leader and runs the kitchen at the Hollybush as well as other Marston’s pubs.

Speaking about his role and how the pub runs, he says: “In my role, I run the kitchen here, and I also go around to other Marston’s pubs sorting the kitchen-side out and helping to develop staff and give support where needed.

“As head chef, I would say that the food we serve here at the Hollybush is great, but we genuinely do strive to have great impressions, and presentation, so we serve good quality, hearty pub food.

“I’ve been here around six months, and we all work together as a team to ensure quality.

“We are very focused on presentation and so we make sure we provide a great service on our vast variety of foods available on our menu.”

The Hollybush is described as a ‘pub for all seasons and reasons’ and staff consider it to be one of the best places to eat out in Wolverhampton when it comes to choice and value.

Set on the A449, a main road in the city, guests from all over visit to enjoy the beer garden, or the warm atmosphere indoors, where they can sample drinks or dine and eat freshly cooked food, including stone-baked handmade pizzas, along with bottomless ice cream.

For drinks, there are a variety on offer such as cask ales, ciders, draught beers, premium spirits, wines and cocktails.

Ravi adds: “It is a big friendly local pub, where the regulars and locals all enjoy the atmosphere. Whether that’s for the drinks, food or lunches, we ensure that we always maintain good presentation and quality.

“One of the signs that we do run well is that we get a lot of repeat customers.

“We also have function rooms that host up to 100 people, where people celebrate birthdays and weddings here.

“We have recently staged a 21st birthday party, and a couple of weeks ago we had a wedding reception, so there are all kinds of uses of our function room.

“When it comes to events we try to do quite a lot, with events in our beer garden, including Halloween and Christmas events we will have coming up.

“We are big on events here and try to support local charities wherever we can too. We do some good work with Penn Hospital, and a lot of their staff come and dine here too.

“The Hollybush has a good following, and it is genuinely a popular place, especially on weekends.

“Under the new management team of Barry and Michelle, it has been running really well in their first year of being in charge, and improved so much, we hope next year will be twice as good.”

Ravi has worked in hospitality for over 20 years, and says it is something he enjoys.

“I love going into hospitality venues, turning them around and helping with training and development, making sure their kitchens are up to standard,” he says.

“Here at Hollybush, our kitchen is at a high level, with five-star rating in hygiene."