The Gillygate has reopened with a new look and new management

The Gillygate at 48 Gillygate is now in the hands of new manager Phil Gamble and his business partner Julie Hodgson.

The couple have been put in charge of the business by owners Neville and Michelle Craggs, who also own pubs in Northallerton, Thirsk, Ripon and Hornsea.

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Previously the Gillygate was owned by Brian and Suzanne Furey who ran it from 2014. However, last year they had to close it due to the cost of living crisis and high energy bills.

In 2021 the pub, which first opened in 1811, was listed for sale on Rightmove for £110,000.

Phil, 31, from Middlesborough, told the press this was his and Julie’s first pub together.

He said: “I’ve been running pubs and bars in Middlesborough and Stockton for about ten years.”

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Julia, 54, from Leeds said: “I’ve worked in bars but running a pub is a new adventure.”

Phil said: “This pub is in a good area for tourism and also for local trade. It has a good clientele. We have redesigned the rooms and the ambience. We have introduced new products. We took away Fosters and Heineken and introduced Cruz Campo (a Spanish lager) and Red Stripe (from Jamaica).”

“That will be based on the menu. We will prepare a Caribbean style menu. It is something different. We looked around the area. There is nothing like that in York. That’s something I wanted to change.”

Phil says the two also think about events and themes for different nights of the week.

Quiz nights, karaoke nights and Northern Soul Nights are planned once a month.

There will also be live music on the stage in the back beer garden, including by the Skapones, who will be performing tomorrow (Sunday) from 4 p.m.

The large beer garden at the back, which seats 75 people, has also been cleaned up.

As well as food and drink, the Gillygate also has seven rooms that have also had a facelift.

Phil says the traditional pub, which opened last Thursday, is enjoying “good and stable trading”.

“We attract people. We want the locals to come back, but we also want to grow our tourism sector.

“It’s about getting Gillygate back to where it should be so people can come back and have fun.”