Leather Bottle Colchester celebrates improvement works

Maxine Burch says she has put her “heart and soul” into transforming Shrub End’s Leather Bottle into a family-friendly venue for the community.

The boozer lost its alcohol licence in December 2021 after a police investigation found it was at the “heart of a large scale cocaine business” under its previous landlord.

But now the upbeat 57-year-old is determined to change people’s preconceptions of the site in Shrub End Road after acquiring it earlier this year.

Revamp - the Leather Bottle in Shrub End (Image: From public)

“All that happened here before has nothing to do with us. We are nice people and we want this to work,” said Maxine.

“We didn’t know what we were up against when we opened this pub. The first two months were very hard but we’re focused on moving forward.”

The pub’s transformation has been a monumental effort as five family members worked around the clock voluntarily to get trade back up and running.

Maxine, who worked behind Greenstead football club Gas Recreation’s bar for 12 years, explained she “jumped at the chance” to take on the challenge.

Team effort - Maxine's family have chipped in to help out at the pub (Image: From public)

“There has been a total revamp and people who came in here before say they can’t believe the change and how it’s become its own community already,” she added.

“We have new customers and some people who have returned after not being here for ten years, so it’s all positive and very exciting. There are new faces, decent people.

“We’ve held charity events here and anyone is welcome to do this; it’s not me trying to score points, it’s all about the community.”

Fresh look - the pub's new look interior (Image: From public)

The landlady added there are strict policies in place to ensure shady characters are kept clear from the new found family environment.

She said: “I go to Pubwatch every month and all the staff are fully trained with zero tolerance to drugs and violence.”

But nothing would be possible without her workers, she added: “We’re a great team, you have nothing if you don’t have that and I can tell you – we’re a good one”.