Barracuda pub named after engineer Brunel

August 7, 2006: Barracuda Group’s latest pub - The Brunel - opened on New Street, Chippenham to a full house and fantastic feedback from customers.

The Brunel is, naturally, named after engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose work included the Great Western Railway and the viaduct at Chippenham which is next door to the pub.

The site of the pub on New Road has strong links with its namesake as it was once the home of Rowland Brotherhood - the principal contractor of the original London to Bristol railway line, who hosted Brunel at his home on many occasions.

The Brunel is a Smith & Jones-branded pub that comprises modern former retail space with a separate listed room that sits within the main pub area and includes its own bar. The £750,000 investment by pub operator Barracuda Group has been sympathetic in its interior décor and design incorporating many of the building’s original features such as a marble mantelpiece, sash windows and ornate cornicing.

The Brunel takes the total number of Smith & Jones’s across the UK to 88 and the total number of Barracuda’s sites nationwide to 183 with plans to open a further 10 sites this year.

l Another recent new Smith & Jones pub is the Phoenix, on Tufton Street, Ashford, Kent, The name of the pub was suggested by local resident Yolanda Barker, in a competition, and she celebrated with a complimentary Champagne meal for four.

Yolanda thought the name of the Phoenix represented a “capacity for vision ... creating excitement and inspiration” and was pleased that it suited the £800,000 new pub.