Popular Swindon pub The Hop celebrates 10th anniversary

Jason Putt grew up with publican parents and then spent 40 years in sales jobs before thinking "there's got to be more life than this" and followed in his mum and dad's footsteps by becoming a pub landlord with his wife Karen Griesel in May 2012.

The boarded-up former home of The Private Shop became The Hop pub in October and soon proved to be popular with punters by offering beers, ciders, wines, and spirits from smaller vendors that were not stocked anywhere else in Swindon.

At the time, The Pig on the Hill was the only other boozer on Devizes Road. After it closed, The Hop moved into its former home and re-named the original site The Little Hop in 2019.

Now, the stretch between Newport Street and Wood Street has become a thriving hub of independent pubs and bars that all sell specialty brews.

Despite its unique selling point no longer being that unique, and a pandemic throwing the hospitality industry into disarray, The Hop is still going strong.

A fundraiser received an unexpectedly generous response, generating £11,000 which helped keep all staff employed during the lockdowns.

Jason said: "I was gobsmacked by the response to the fundraiser. We would not be here now without it.

"I would like to thank everyone who has supported us, we have a very lovely core customer base and I'm eternally grateful to them.

"When we opened, we wanted people to be challenged by unusual products and give them something different, with no big names, because we could sell what we wanted. 

"It was a hit from day one, though I can't pretend it hasn't been hard. There's not a single cost that has not increased in the last decade.

"It's the same for any pub at the moment, times are hard, people are worried about paying the bills and want to stay home.

"We are reasonably busy and maintaining the sort of turnover we had back in 2019, but everything was cheaper then. It's getting tougher and you don't know what tomorrow will bring - here's to the next 10 years!"

Jason's son Ben took on the task of transforming the old Pig on the Hill space into a larger venue for The Hop.

Ben said: "I worked in sales and it paid the bills but it wasn't very stimulating, so I liked the idea of working for myself.

"I had a good year, then Covid hit and we didn't know if we were coming or going.

"I like the social aspect and the people you see regularly or now and again, everyone's lovely. Devizes Road is a great destination.

"Our customers are our friends, and some have been here from the start, we were touched by their response and we really appreciate them.

"We do things for the community to try and give something back.

"There's quiet nights for people on the autism spectrum which are appreciated, the regular markets for small businesses every month get a good response, we display art from a different artist every six weeks, and half our quiz night proceeds go to charity."

The Hop won the Swindon and North Wiltshire CAMRA Pub of the Year award in its smaller site in 2014 and won the same honour again this year in its relocated space.

The pub hosted a little get-together on Thursday evening to celebrate its success, thank its original and regular customers, and look forward to another decade - pandemics and other disasters permitting.

The Hop Inn (Image: Dave Cox)