Velvet Magazine May 2017

A Cause For Celebration
Local Business
The Bull Inn
The Street, Barton Mills, Bury
St Edmunds, IP28 6AA
Tel: 01638 711001
www.bullinn-bartonmills.com
10 years on and it seems owners, Cheryl and Wayne, did
know what they were doing with Barton Mills’ village pub
The 16th May 2007 was the date that was
to change the fortunes of the run down
and loss-making Bull Inn at Barton Mills.
Newcomers to the industry Cheryl Hickman
and Wayne Starling took the ‘bull by the
horns’ and haven’t looked back since. Nonbelievers
said to the couple at the beginning
“you don’t know what you are doing” but this
is what spurred them on.
The journey has been a rollercoaster with
plenty of amazing highs and plenty of
challenges and hard work along the way. But
buckets of team commitment, motivation
and an unfailing dedication to success is what
has enabled this couple to prove they did
know what they were doing.
They transformed the The Bull Inn into an
award-winning, modern yet historically
sympathetic and hugely funky coaching inn.
It’s now a popular local hotspot where friends
meet for lunch, families come for breakfast
and business people stay over. It’s different to
your normal pub with rooms as guests enjoy
quality food and AA rosette dining rooms.
The business has seen year on year growth
since the first year and hundreds of
thousands of pounds have been reinvested
to create what it is today. After the initial 6
months, Cheryl and Wayne couldn’t carry on
doing the 7am to sometimes 3 or 4am in the
morning!
These shifts were 7 days a week and they
could see this would be a potential problem
to the business becoming successful, so
Sonia (Cheryl’s sister) joined the team fulltime
making the Inn a real family affair. This
also allowed Cheryl and Wayne to take some
time out which enabled them to remain
upbeat and focused.
The couple have led the team and the
business to win many awards over the years
and have maintained their AA rosette for
their food offering. One of their best awards
achieved is the ‘Funkiest Inn in the UK’ as
voted by the anonymous AA inspectors.
“We had a strong vision of what we wanted
The Bull to be and we have stayed true to
that throughout. The resulting success is a
real testament to the commitment, hard
work, determination and dedication of all
involved. Many a time along the way people
have said “you shouldn’t do it that way”, or
“that will never work”, but we stayed strong
and we are now in an amazing position from
where the business was. The building was
about to be demolished 10 years ago! We
are now a multi award-winning business with
national press coverage, yet still have our
feet firmly on the ground as we continue to
support our local community,” says Cheryl.
Velvet Magazine | May 2017 45