TWENTY YEARS IN HOSPITALITY BRINGS PUB MANAGER VICTORIA TO THE BELLE VUE TAVERN

It’s been years of hard work, going from selling ice creams in the cabin at the Minnis Bay Bar and Brasserie aged 13, to General Manager of the Belle Vue Tavern, but Victoria Boreham has loved every moment.

After starting out in hospitality in her early teens, 34-year-old Victoria is passionate about the industry, but doesn’t see it as work because she enjoys it so much!

“Working in pubs, you meet so many people,” she said. “I am quite a social person. It is nice to come to work and not to feel like it’s work. If something bad does happen, you can laugh about it!”

A Thanet girl at heart, she made the move from Whitbread, running sites across Kent, most recently the Promenade Brewer’s Fayre in Margate, to Shepherd Neame’s Belle Vue Tavern in Ramsgate in July.

“It is such a beautiful location,” she said. “I was looking for a new job and I was blown away by the view. This site has so much potential.”

The site, which dates back to the 18th century when smuggling tunnels linked it to cottages across the road, is home to the ‘Balcony of Kent’ which has some of the best sea views in the county, across Pegwell Bay and out to the Channel and Victoria hopes to capitalise on it.

She has already got to work improving the rear garden, renovating the seating and adding more plants, with blankets and more lighting set to come for the autumn, while inside is awaiting redecoration soon. 

Having already introduced a breakfast menu from 8.30am to 10.30am Wednesday to Sunday, she also plans to have more themed nights and a crochet club on the first Wednesday of the month, as well as coffee and cake from 10am.

“I feel like I have been here for ages already! I’m really settling in,” she added. “This is the smallest site I have looked after, but I think it could do big things.”

The team helping her deliver it includes some new additions who have joined Shepherd Neame with her from Whitbread, and Victoria says she is keen to encourage staff development.

“I am passionate about helping people to progress and have always done that throughout my career,” she said. “I want everyone to be multi-skilled so that they can all help when needed. But I am also an advocate for a healthy work/life balance.”

For Victoria that includes time with her two dogs (Charlie, a Newfoundland, and Hank, a bulldog) and mixed martial arts, such as boxing and Taekwondo.

After spending 15 years with Whitbread, she admits being the ‘newbie’ at Britain’s oldest brewer is quite a change for her. 

“It is a little bit humbling to be the newbie. I’d heard a lot of good things about Shepherd Neame before I started, and have already seen a lot of positives in the way it works, really supporting its teams to provide quality experiences for customers.”

The pub is now open from 10am seven days a week, and offers a specials menu and range of delicious light bites and main meals, as well as local wines, spirits and cocktails, and an extensive selection of Shepherd Neame’s ales and lagers.

Find the Belle Vue Tavern in Pegwell Road, Ramsgate; call 01843 593991 or visit www.thebellevuetavern.co.uk.