The trio have transformed the pub and given it a fresher feel with all the attributes of a traditional pub, making it a favourite with the locals and with people from further a field.  The three partners have combined their vast hospitality knowledge and created an offering of great honest food, which is locally-sourced, alongside fantastic local Norfolk beer.  Not only is the offering great, but by putting environmentally friendly policies at the forefront of the transformation, the The Pigs is minimising its impact on the planet too.

A major step taken by the pub was to replace the kitchen’s old, gas guzzling equipment with new, energy efficient equipment.  This move is set to save the pub thousands of pounds in energy costs year after year.  The savings have come about after Facon and Williams recommended that The Pigs worked with them to apply for a Carbon Trust loan.

Says Owner and general manager Gary Long: “We have worked with Falcon and Williams many times in the past and they told us about the Carbon Trust loan scheme, which we hadn’t heard about before.  Once we had given them go ahead they helped with the administration of the application, carried out all the energy saving calculations and handled all the correspondence with the Carbon Trust.”

Three weeks later the application was approved the new equipment was installed converting the one time ‘energy nasty’ kitchen into a new energy friendly one.  New equipment included a Falcon Infinity Fryer and Dominator grill and a Williams walk-in fridge and Onyx preparation counter.  With limited kitchen space, the bespoke walk in fridge was specially made to be located outside but with an internal door from the kitchen for easy access.

The kitchen team are now enjoying using their new equipment – as are the customers, who can see the chefs perform in the new kitchen from the pub’s restaurant area.  The kitchen is partly visible from the pub so customers can see it come alive and with 120 covers and a fully booked restaurant most weekends it really does! 

The Pigs has given a new lease of life to British classics and on the bar there’s a ‘no crisp’ policy, instead you’ll find the likes of spicy nuts, pots of pickle and kipper paste to nibble on – described by Gary as “Norfolk Iffits” – if it’s in the fridge you can have it!

Concludes Gary Long:  “Without the Carbon Trust loan it would have been unrealistic to have replaced all the old equipment so we’re grateful to Falcon and Williams for introducing us to the idea.  It has benefited everyone all round – the chefs are happier, food quality is better for our customers, our energy bills are significantly lower and of course we’ve cut our carbon emissions too.”

 To download The Pigs case study in PDF format, click here (203kb)