England cricket star Stuart Broad wants to open a string of pubs 鈥 but said sport will always play a big part in his life. He spoke to BusinessLive following the reopening of his Nottinghamshire pub the Tap and Run 鈥
It comes as another pub he owns with ex-Notts and England teammate Harry Gurney 鈥 The Griffin Inn in Swithland, a few miles down the road in Charnwood 鈥 was crowned Best Gastro Pub at the Midlands Food, Drink and Hospitality Awards 2023.
And he talked about his hopes for England in the Ashes ahead of the fourth test at Old Trafford, saying the five-match competition could still go either way despite the Aussies' 2-1 advantage.
The Notts bowler got into the pub business when Gurney suggested they take a look at what would become the Tap and Run in the village of Upper Broughton, near Melton, seven years ago.
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He said: 鈥淗arry was a teammate at Nottingham and we always used to talk about different business things 鈥 it was an interest of both of ours.
鈥淎nd he came to my house one day, and said 鈥榯he pub next door to my house has come up for sale, what do you think?鈥. I said 鈥淥K, let's give it a go鈥.
鈥淗e saw it as a big opportunity for him post-cricket 鈥 and something to grow.
鈥淎nd I was naive sportsperson, to be honest, and saw it as a bit of a hobby. I wanted somewhere to take my family for a nice Sunday roast and a glass of red.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 been incredible how that's developed and changed over the last five or six years and particularly the last couple of years.
鈥淲e have a very clear vision now of what we're doing and Harry is learning incredible amounts in the business world and in the pub industry.
鈥淭he problems in the hospitality industry are very similar to those in the sports industry 鈥 it鈥檚 all about teamwork. You need you need a group of people to buy into the culture, to believe in a direction to then get results.鈥
Things took a big dive in June 2022 when a tumble dryer caused a fire in the pub which took out the entire first and second floors and the roof.
The ground floor was so damaged that it had to be stripped right back to brick.
Stuart said: 鈥淗arry called me about 5.15 in the morning. I was playing the test match at Trent Bridge, and he just said 鈥渢he pub鈥檚 on fire鈥.
鈥淎nd then he took a picture from the top of the hill with the whole roof just ablaze. It took eight fire engines to put it out. It was a complete write-off and there was a huge amount of water damage.
鈥淚 think I had three days left of the game before I could come over. I didn't affect my playing but I was obviously worried. Knowing that no-one was injured, and everyone was safe helped.
鈥淲hen I came to visit the Monday after the test match finished, I felt quite emotional about it 鈥 looking through the windows I could see the roof all caved in. Some tables were still made-up, ready to go, while others had bits of roof completely collapsed over them.
鈥淚 wondered where would we go from there but I was amazed by Harry's positivity 鈥 he was immediately saying 鈥渨e're going to make it better 鈥 we're going to make it bigger. We鈥檙e going to change the way the bar is and we can tweak the kitchen鈥.
鈥淲ithin 10 minutes I had no doubt he was fully committed to go again.鈥
Now the Tap and Run is open seven days a week and The Griffin is gaining attention, so there was nothing stopping them looking at more pubs in and around that corner of the East Midlands.
He said: 鈥淭he business plan is to try and get five in the next five years, which might sound a little bit like running before we can walk. But we need to make sure the Tap and Run continues on an up-hill curve.
鈥淣ow might not be the right time but we're always on the lookout. The crucial thing for us while we鈥檙e expanding is that we never lose quality.
鈥淚鈥檒l definitely take another step forward within the pub business when my cricket eventually finishes, but I think rather than going fully 100 per cent into one thing I would like to have different things in my life that keep me interested 鈥 that keep me moving forward as a person.鈥
This summer鈥檚 Ashes, he said, had been 鈥渋ncredible鈥 probably the most intriguing, interesting, emotional series I've played in my whole career鈥.
He said: 鈥淚 feel like every test could have gone either way 鈥 it could be three-nil Australia or three-nil England鈥 it could be two-one England.
鈥淲e've got to win two test matches now. We know what the plan is, so it鈥檚 all about resting and recuperating to make sure that when we get to Manchester we鈥檙e full of energy and full of drive.
鈥淚've definitely got the feeling that the country has been gripped with Ashes fever and I think the standard of cricket has helped that massively. It's been an honour and a pleasure to be a part of it.鈥
And, what about the Jonny Bairstow鈥檚 run-out in the second Test 鈥 when the England wicket-keeper (who was batting) walked away from the crease thinking the ball was dead only for Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey to get him out? I was seen as most unsporting by commentators.
鈥淚t didn't I didn't sit too warmly with me at the time, but I've let it go now.
鈥淛onny was a bit frustrated at the time as well but it was nice for us to get the winner at Headingley to keep the series moving and keep inspiring kids to want to play.鈥
Aside from cricket and the pub business Stuart is also an ambassador for business software specialist Sage, which is running a competition 鈥 in partnership with cricketing competition The Hundred 鈥 for a small business owner to win 拢10,000 and 12 months of advertising, mentoring and promotional support valued at 拢50,000, as well as official involvement in The Hundred.
He said: 鈥淲e found within our business one of the biggest things is the marketing and the competition winner will get marketing at Hundred games which is the sort of exposure that you just can't get as a small business.
鈥淚t's a competition that fits really nicely with us, being business owners, and something that I encourage any small business owner to enter because of the exposure, the information and the support that you'll get through being part of it.鈥
