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University student swaps nightclubs for landlady role as the Queens Head reopens
A university student is trading drinking at nightclubs for running her own traditional pub in the Vale.
Ellie Pratt, 20, has taken a year out from Brighton University to run the Queens Head in Aylesbury for her father, Peter.
The pub has been closed for a month after its previous owners left suddenly and is to reopen at 4pm today (Friday).
Ms Pratt said: “I’m a little bit daunted. I was back from university one day, mum and dad took me to a pub and just said ‘here you go’.”
Mr Pratt already runs Aylesbury’s 2011 pub of the year, the King and Queen in Wendover and said he was confident his daughter would be successful.
“We will be overseeing it but she’s done all the recruiting herself. She’s got the right attitude behind the bar and she knows how to do all the messy jobs.”
Aylesbury is becoming something of a hotbed for student landladies with Lauren Heffer running the Green Man.
Ms Pratt added it would be pointless for the pub to try and compete with the likes of Wetherspoons.
The business student said she would be looking for the pub’s food to set it apart from competitors.
“I think the food is going to be a major thing that brings everyone in.
“There’s not an actual pub that does restaurant food, it’s just standard pub grub.”
The Queens Head was previously a favourite watering hole for local businesses before acquiring a poor reputation.
However, Ms Pratt said they had already received a warm welcome from the locals.
“They have all come out and said they’re excited about us getting the pub back to how it used to be,” she added.
The 20 year old, who has been at the King and Queen for three years, said it would be a new experience working with her dad.
“We never ever clash, really. We have conflicting ideas on things, though. There are things I think are right but you have to put your business mind on.
“There are a couple of things where you think, ‘nice one dad’. But sometimes I have to say ‘no’. We work really well together. It’s nice to be on a partner level with him.”
The pub is open for trading from 4pm today (Friday). It will be holding a grand opening next Friday and will begin serving food next Saturday.
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
