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New pub manager news

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 16:49:00 GMT

Exciting New Chapter for the Royal Oak

We’re delighted to share positive news about the future of the Royal Oak, a place that sits at the very heart of our community.

Over the coming days, we’ll be welcoming a new pub management team, Marianne and Richard Verschoor, who will be taking on the day-to-day running of the pub from 6th April. They bring with them a wealth of experience, fresh ideas, and—most importantly—a real enthusiasm for community-led spaces like ours.

This marks an exciting next step for the Royal Oak as we continue to build on everything that makes it special: a welcoming atmosphere, great food and drink, and a space where people can come together.

A Huge Thank You to Our Team

Before we look ahead, it’s important to recognise what has made this moment possible. Over the past year, since our bar manager and chef resigned, a dedicated group of volunteers and casual staff have worked incredibly hard to keep the pub open and thriving.

In particular, we’d like to thank Ian and Jo.

Ian has stepped into the role of interim bar manager for the past six months. His commitment, alongside the efforts of everyone involved, has helped carry the Royal Oak through this period and ensured it remains a valued part of village life. As Marianne and Richard take up their roles, Ian will be stepping back into his position as a volunteer and will be supporting them as they settle in—something we’re very grateful for.

While Jo's primary role is full-time manager of the shop and café, she has gone above and beyond by making use of the kitchen to introduce a much-loved food offering, with lunch and evening options on selected days. Her initiative, energy and commitment have added something truly special to the Royal Oak, and we’re very pleased that this will continue to grow as part of the next chapter.

Working Together for Something Even Better

A key part of this next phase is collaboration. Marianne and Richard are very much looking forward to working closely with Jo. Whilst Jo continues to lead the shop and café and Richard and Marianne focus on the pub, together, the team will be exploring ways to offer more regular lunch and evening food options in the café and pub, as well as new events and activities that bring more life into the space throughout the week.

By combining their strengths, we’re confident this team approach will help create an even more vibrant and sustainable future for the Royal Oak.

Looking Ahead

As always, our aim at Heart of the Village is to support initiatives that benefit the whole community—whether that’s through great local food, welcoming social spaces, or opportunities to come together.

We’re really looking forward to seeing Jo, Marianne and Richard working side by side, and to sharing more updates with you as plans develop.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll join us in giving Marianne and Richard a warm welcome when they arrive, and in continuing to support everything that makes the Royal Oak such an important part of village life.

Thank you, as always, for being part of the journey.

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 22:23:19 GMT

A big thank you to all our volunteers and staff

Survey ; The future of the pub, shop and cafe. Have your say!

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 19:09:05 GMT

The next step for our community business - What would you like to see happen?

Would the people outside the Royal Oak on this historic photo ever have imagined that the building and its business would at some point be fully owned by the community? Back in those days the pub was the social meeting place. Back then there were many more pubs on the Somerset Levels than the current numbers.

Like the villagers in this photo you might not be wondering about the future of what is now the community owned Royal Oak with a thriving village shop, a popular café, a typical village pub and a kitchen and function room that offer countless possibilities. Still you no doubt have thoughts about what you like and not like about the current offering.

Now is the time to share those thoughts. The Heart of the Village management committee, responsible for the community enterprise, has launched a survey to help build a plan for the future. The survey is your chance to give your honest opinion about what is currently on offer as well as bring ideas for change and improvement to the table. No idea is too crazy to voice. The very fact that HOTV got off the ground and is a healthy business is the very proof. Your input will help make it serve even more needs of the community and make the community enterprise future proof.

Thank you!

Annual Health & Safety Inspection Visit

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:18:37 GMT

Annual Health and Safety inspection concluded

Running a community business like the Royal Oak requires a lot of expertise regarding all kind of different matters. Luckily there has always been a good representation of business skills within the management committee and the volunteers who support the HOTV. Still though, for certain topics , we seek assistance and advice from specialised partners who are fully up to date on latest legislation specific to our kind of set up.

With respect to all matters Health and Safety we have partnered with Citation who have recently conducted their second annual site inspection. Their report is now available for you to view by simply clicking on the image above. As you will see in the report the inspector had noticed that a huge number of observations and actions listed in their previous report had been followed up. As can be expected from any inspection in a world where rules and even perceptions of rules change over time the inspection has highlighted a list of new recommendations, further improvements and entirely new actions. Partly due to the building having undergone considerable alterations since the last Citation visit.

Since receiving the report the MC has worked through the actions and recommendations and many of those you can already see put in place in various places in and around the Royal Oak. Others are in the process and planned to be in place as soon as we possibly can.

Thanks to the cooperation with Citation we are in a position to maintain high Health and Safety standards at The Heart of the Village

Welcome to the new Heart of the Village website

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 21:05:21 GMT

From the moment the idea was born to get the community to come together and buy the Royal Oak and transform it into a thriving community hub there has been information about the Heart of the Village (HOTV) on the Stoke St Gregory website. We thank everyone involved in setting the many pages of information up and maintaining them over time. In order to be able to create a clearer profile of all things HOTV it is now time to present our very own website

What can you find on the website?

The short answer to that is ; everything related to the HOTV. And with that we mean everything from the background and purpose of the community enterprise (set up as a limited company, run by an elected management committee) to information about the trading parts of the enterprise (the pub and restaurant, the shop and café, and the events. And everything that you will want and need to know about

Is everything available on the new website already?
At the launch of the website all information is available on the homepage. The homepage contains links to relevant pages which could be pages on the new website or links to for instance current pages on the Stoke St Gregory website or the pub or shop website. The intention is to transfer a lot of that information over to the new website and update it where necessary so in the end you will be able to navigate around just the one website and find absolutely everything you are looking for.

Can you get involved?
Absolutely. The more people who get involved, the better. That could be by helping out with any aspects of creating content for this website and our socials. There is so much more though which you could get involved in. From shifts in the shop or pub to diy around the premises, garden design and maintenance or in the running of events. We'd love to hear from you. Email us on contact@heartofthevillage.uk