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Grantham's inspirational women: 'Running the pub is not a job, it's a lifestyle'




When it comes to inspirational women in Grantham, Sarah Harlock, from Sunningdale, Grantham, is up there with the very best of them.

The pub landlady has raised thousands of pounds for charity since taking over the Royal Queen pub, in Belton Lane, in 2014.

The 43-year-old who is mum to Joshua, 23, Mitchell, 14, and Cooper, 12, organises three big charity days a year with the help of her husband Martin and her team of dedicated staff.

The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14584998)
The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14584998)

We caught up with Sarah at the Royal Queen on Wednesday ahead of the pub’s launch night for its new food and cocktail menu.

Did you always want to be a landlady?

I had only ever done very little bar work but I had always enjoyed it. I had been working as a mortgage consultant for 14 years when I had an operation on my shoulder and had to take some time off. It was at a time when things were changing in the financial industry so I had a conversation with my husband who asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I wanted to run a pub and that was that.

We did our homework to find out who we wanted to work for and it just so happened that the Royal Queen was available.

The company that own the Royal Queen said that they would never have given the pub to anyone who had not run a pub before but I persuaded them to interview us and we got the keys.

Like everything it has had its ups and down but I love all of it. It is not a job, it’s a lifestyle. It has to be really as it can be 24/7.

The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14585002)
The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14585002)

How do you fit in the charity work as well as running the pub?

I have always been so passionate about charity and we are fortunate to have so much space at the pub to utilise for charity days. We choose all kinds of charities, including local ones, and charities that mean something to us or one of our customers. We’ve done everything from Help for Heroes, Guide Dogs, RNIB, the Naomi Fardell Fund, Nystagmus Network, RSPCA Radcliffe and women’s cancer causes. Macmillan and St Barnabas Hospice are close to our hearts as we used them when my dad passed away two years ago.

We host three charity days a year. The last one was for St Barnabas in May and the next one is the Naomi fund on Bank Holiday Sunday [August 25], starting at 1pm. Each charity day will normally have raffles, a tombola, games and local bands. We also like to have stalls from local people and their businesses.

We also allow people to use the pub for their fund-raising events such as quiz nights, fun days etc. We’ve got the space so we like to use it for a good cause.

You’ve raised over £10,000 for charity throughout the years, how does this make you feel?

I’m proud of what we have achieved but it is not just me, it’s a team effort. If people didn’t come out to support us, it wouldn’t be such a success.

It’s great news that the pub will be serving food again ...

We always used to serve food but when my son Joshua, our chef, left to join the army we never found the right chef afterwards so stopped serving food last December with the exception of a roast dinner on a Sunday.

However when Joshua announced that he was moving back to this area with his fiancée Kelly, it seemed like the perfect fit and being family they have the same passion for business as we do.

We will be serving food six days a week as well as cocktails and other
offers.

The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14585002)
The Royal Queen in Grantham. (14585002)


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