A PUB in West Cornwall has found a familiar face to take over as landlord. 

Vickery Holman property consultants have secured a new tenant for the Robartes Arms in Illogan, West Cornwall. Acting on behalf of owners, Keltek Brewery, Vickery Holman have agreed terms with Lee Hodge to take over this popular village pub, with an ambitious plan to grow the trade.

Although Lee is the new landlord, he’s not an unfamiliar face as he and his family live in the village and know the pub well. Lee has been in the trade for many years and welcomes the opportunity to put that experience and knowledge into practice for his own business.

Lee said: "My wife and I have been looking to run a pub for ourselves for a little while now and as soon as we heard that the Robartes had come available we just jumped at the chance.

"We know what has been successful in the past and have loads of plans that will go down with the locals and visitors. First thing will be to reopen the bar and to get that settled so that the locals can once again enjoy using the pub.

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"We plan to get the kitchens open as soon as possible and will be setting up some community events, entertainment and a daytime offer as soon as we can. Having worked in the trade for many years we cannot wait to get started."

The Robartes Arms is a classic stone-fronted village inn and has a cosy main bar, with an additional restaurant, games room, and outside sitting area to the front and beer garden to the rear.

Owned by award-winning Keltek brewery, based in nearby Redruth, their managing director, Stewart Cawte, added: "Lee put forward a great proposal, and obviously has great experience in the trade. In our tenant interview, he showed the motivation and plan that we know will go down well in this venue.

"We wish Lee and his family every success and will be supporting them with Keltek products and services to get them started."

Michael Easton, Vickery Holman, said: "The Robartes is a popular venue and when the last tenancy came to an end we started a process, of which Lee is the successful party.

"This is one of a number of completions this month and proves again that there is experience and interest in the public house sector. We look forward to dropping in on Lee and seeing how the business grows."