Who are you?
I’m Jenny, owner of Bold St House. We are a wee wine and cocktail bar on Palmyra Square in Warrington, open 7 days and serving a selection of delicious nibbles, cheese and charcuiterie boards and slightly bigger lunch options along side our fabulous drinks list.
How did the business come about?
I’ve been in the Industry for a long time and as much as I loved the Company I was working for, I couldn’t see myself there for ever. We moved to Warrington (my fiancé is from here) and after a few years of struggling to find somewhere with both amazing service and a really great product, we decided to take the leap and open a bar ourselves. Window Dreams was the first property we looked at and we absolutely fell for it, we bought the property in November and after many months of planning, license applications and architect drawings we eventually exchanged keys in May 2019. Four months of serious graft and a lot of rubble later, we opened Bold St House mid September and have loved every minute of it.
How long has your business been in existence?
We have been open for 8 months now.
How many people do you employ?
There are myself and Michael, who is also a shareholder and we then have a team of incredible bartenders who have been with us since we opened. We have Tom, Craig and Manel who make the best cocktails in town (in our opinion anyway!) and then Jamie who is our secret weapon on the floor. His customer service is second to none and he makes everyone feel looked after. We are incredibly lucky to have them all.
Why Warrington?
I love living here, there is a great community feel and while I know it’s been through some serious ups and downs I get a real sense that the local Warrington people want the town to succeed and if everyone just keeps investing locally and supporting the new businesses, there is no reason for it not to be a real spot on a map in a few years! We felt there was a gap in the market that was meaning people were getting on the train and heading to Liverpool or Manchester for their nights out and decided to at least start doing something about it!
What job or achievement makes you most proud?
Following through on my lifetime dream of doing this. I had a great job with a fantastic salary and lots of career opportunities so it was a big gamble stepping away to do this. We bought the building and invested everything we had in the build and it can still sometimes be a big tight but when I see our bar, packed full of strangers that are there because they love it, not just because they know me, I get goosebumps! It’s the best buzz ever!
Tell us one interesting thing about you that people might not know?
I grew up on a beef farm in Scotland and absolutely love getting a wee trip back up there to see the family.
Who are the people most important in life to you?
My friends and family are everything to me and I’m lucky to have a huge, amazing family of my own but also my in-laws are the most wonderful, crazy, fabulous people. Matthew doesn’t have anything to do with the bar day to day but he is always there when we need him. Both families and all our friends have been so supportive, we couldn’t have done it without them! On our opening night, my Mum and Dad brought down 20 of their friends, that we grew up with, all the way from Scotland. It was a serious party!
What is your ‘get through lockdown tip’?
Drink lots of cocktails and buy lots of your favourite wine! Every day’s a Saturday right?
Like a 1:1 with Jenny?
Email: jenny@leoandlancie.co.uk
