A FORDHAM gastropub which opened just days before the third Covid-19 lockdown is celebrating a nomination recognising it as one of the best venues of its kind in the UK.

The Three Horseshoes, which is run by Moira Edwards, her son Sam, and his girlfriend Abbie, was bought a week before Christmas in 2020 and started selling food to go on New Year’s Day 2021.

Although the business started trading in the third lockdown, the idea of opening and running a gastropub was conceived when the term Covid-19 was still something of a novelty.

Ms Edwards, 55, had her son and his girlfriend staying at her Brentwood home in March 2020, and with the hospitality sector having been completely shut down, she started to wonder whether her decades of hospitality experience could be put towards running a business herself.

Gazette: Nominated - The Three Horseshoes has featured in a list of the top 50 gastropubs in the UK, according to Estrella DammNominated - The Three Horseshoes has featured in a list of the top 50 gastropubs in the UK, according to Estrella Damm (Image: TripAdvisor)

She said: “The three of us were in lockdown together and we decided it was time to do something.

“We were enjoying food and drink together, the three of us, and we knew we could do something together."

With both her son and his girlfriend having received a hospitality degree at Essex University, the two were keen to get involved and after Ms Edwards sold her house and bought The Three Horseshoes, there was no going back.

“I sold our house and bought the pub," she said. 

“Was it the dream? The dream is to be working with my son."

Gazette: Experienced - Moira Edwards, 55, has always worked in the hospitality industryExperienced - Moira Edwards, 55, has always worked in the hospitality industry (Image: Moira Edwards)

The two chefs who were with them from the beginning have been joined by another 17 members of staff, bringing the workforce to 22 - and now The Three Horseshoes has featured in Estrella Damm’s top 50 gastropubs in Britain for 2024, everyone there is going to stay hungry for success.

Such work does not come without sacrifice, particularly in the hospitality sector, but Ms Edwards says she has learned from the days of working crazy shift patterns every day of the week.

She added: “I’ve learned – we close on a Sunday night and are off Monday and Tuesday.

“We close for a week in June and September so everyone can be at their best – I like to think we’re running it as a sensible business.”