Office crew

Graham is the company accountant, and has to keep a grip on things. He trained with BAT in London, qualifying in 1993, and fled North to work for a datacom company and Granada before joining Brunning and Price in 1998. He is married to Fliss, an independent human resource consultant, and they have two daughters. He rides a motorbike and enjoys the aroma of warm leather and oil.

Anne-Marie did her AAT training and gained accounting experience at Gibson’s Tractors in Tattenhall, where she had responsibility for the Purchase and Sales Ledgers. She has a keen and incisive mind, is no stranger to a practical joke, and keeps fit by running a lot.

Helen came to us after years of experience with Manweb, Wrexham Water and seven years at the Grosvenor Garden Centre, so she knows all there is to know about keeping unruly purchase ledgers in order. Amongst her other responsibilities she keeps her eye on the office credit card expenses, so can expect lovely Christmas and birthday presents for years to come. Helen is married to Ian and has two football mad sons, so spends much of her weekends cheerleading Wrexham football club youth teams.

Sam is responsible for pulling all the numbers and information together to compile the Brunning and Price profit and loss accounts. Her infinite patience and diplomacy (and firm hand) are tested when figuring out what everybody has spent all the money on. She would make a great debt counsellor.

Jane has been in finance almost all her working life. She started here as a temp but after a brief break returned to the fold full time. She lives in Bunbury, so when she’s not trying to sort the pub accounts out she’s happily propping up the bar at the Dysart.

Janice joined us in the Spring of 2007, and has proved to be a little ray of sunshine in the underground mines that are Accounts. She has been married to husband Rob since forever, and they have three children; Laura, Emma and Chris. They are a musical family, with Chris filling in the sporty side by being an ardent water-poloist. Janice keeps herself trim and alert by walking her dog every lunchtime – while the rest of us keep ourselves trim and alert by going to the pub.

Jane is responsible for the payroll, amongst other things, so is extremely popular and is very very nice. She has two girls, and is a passionate horsewoman - her horsebox, however, keeps bursting into flames thanks to a blackbird who recognises the exhaust manifold as home and persists in nesting there.

Jo, who has a degree in Retail Management, originally came to head office as personnel manager having been a deputy manager at the Glasfryn in Mold, and before that an assistant manager at the Pant yr Ochain, so she knows the score. The role of Operations Director is a challenging one, and she has to keep many plates spinning at the same time. Her common sense approach allied with her years in personnel enable her to keep on top of the many tricky and sensitive issues that arise each day.

Jane came to us after seven years with Nestle: she started there as Customer Services manager but soon progressed to HR manager. At university Jane took options in Cultural Studies, which basically meant watching soap operas, and she still keeps up with Cultural Studies to this day. She drinks Sauvignon Blanc and is a self-confessed foodie, so plays netball to redress the balance.

Beth did her A levels at Yale, followed by a Psychology degree at the University of Wales in Swansea. She honed her HR skills during 5 years at Airbus, and her social skills during 10 years at the Pant, her Gresford local. Unusually for one so appreciative of the pleasures of grape and hop, Beth enjoys running, with the eventual goal of completing a half marathon.

Irene had been with us in the HR department for several years before leaving with her husband Andrew for a posting with his company to China, which was an adventure she relished. On her timely return to Blighty we prevailed on her to return to cover for Beth's maternity leave, which she happily agreed to.

Caroline joined the office crew having worked as a casual in Glasfryn on and off over the years in between stints of travelling the world and getting her degree. She spent 3 months in 2003 working as a team leader as part of Raleigh International helping organise a trek into the Andes and building a sports stadium in Chile so she’s used to getting stuck in and organising all sorts.

Mike first joined the company in 1997, and soon graduated to heading up the chef team at Glasfryn at the time of opening. After three years of galloping success he left for the green pastures of executive chefdom, but returned to us after a year or so to run our chef support function in the company and in 2006 he became Executive chef. He's the man to help with in-house training, roving chefs and their rotas, trainee chefs and college liason, and all the key areas surrounding food development and production, acting as a consultant to the pubs. He's married to Lynn and they have two children, Jennifer and Patrick (who looks just like his Dad).

Nigel had his own computer company for many years, and we subcontracted a lot of work to his company before he came to join us. Nigel has one of the more difficult jobs in the company, having to deal with various degrees of techno-frustration from all and sundry around the company. He has adopted a phlegmatic approach to things, and would make an excellent therapist if it all finally got too much.

Kieron did a degree in Electronic Engineering at Leeds, and journeyed a full six weeks into a PHD before being lured by the siren call of business. He helped set up a video conferencing company called Virtex and was technical director for eight years, two of them spent in Dubai where he met his wife Amanda. He was a keen rower, but now grows vegetables, breeds Partridge and keeps Pekin chickens, which have fluffy feet.

Rob was originally a freelance web developer who built our site from scratch before joining us full-time back in 2003. As part of the techie team his main role is graphics and user interface design for our software, but he also works with Duncan on the website and any marketing materials.

Fran is a bit of a dynamo and is never happier than when there are fifteen calls backed up on his mobile phone. He has managed a couple of our pubs in the past, namely Harkers and the Pant. He thrives on pressure, and is in his element when we open a new pub, ’cause then he can engage hyper-drive, warp factor ten. He is married to Barbie and they have a son, Guy, who at a young age is already something of an engineering prodigy. Fran likes to keep his ears to the ground.

Originally a joiner by trade, we’ve known John for many years – he was involved in the original refurbishment of the Pant and a couple of houses for Fran. He was the original site foreman at Glasfryn when he worked for Ken Armstrong, before setting up on his own. He has very high standards, is enormously knowledgeable and painstakingly helpful, so we’re very pleased to have him on board. He is currently working on the B&P beer belly, which is coming along fine.

Andy is John’s other half in the field. He’s been in building all his life and is a chip off the old block, sharing the same sense of humour as his Pa. You’d think that father and son teams would be difficult at times, but they rub along together famously and make a very jolly pair.

Martin has been in the auditing game all his working life. He was the stationery cupboard monitor at school and was so good at counting pencils and tracking down missing Quink he decided to make a career of it. Extraordinarily, before he came to us the only previous interview he had ever had was for his very first job after school - it's just that ever since then he's been moved and promoted within companies as they've been taken over and merged, and got to be Deputy Regional manager without ever having to repeat the whole ghastly process. Mind you, he didn't appear nervous at all, so he must know his stuff.

Having returned from living in Los Angeles for seven years following an illustrious career in showbiz, writing music and sound effects for TV and film, Andy joined us at the Hare in the summer of 2005. Before moving to the USA he was a session musician playing bass guitar in various bands touring the world, and still enjoys the odd gig or two. A bit of a surfer dude at heart with a sunny disposition and a warm smile he spends most of his holidays abroad catching waves surfing and sailing.

Chris came to us from a long and distinguished career in hotels, having worked in a variety of management positions at Crabwell Manor, Nunsmere Hall, St Davids Park, Mollington Banastre, Rookery Hall, De Vere Grand in Brighton, and the rest. It’s very unusual for hotelly people to make the transition to pubby people because the modus operandi is so different, but Chris has been a regular at our pubs for years, knows how we work, and enjoys the craik. He's good fun.

Kate is a real foodie, and was a founder member of Taste Real Food.com, a non-profit association of food and drink lovers.She is highly energised, and enjoys skiing, snowboarding and sky diving - which is a bit dodgy as she is self-avowedly clumsy. She came to us from a big corporate office, but is loving the B&P culture.

Tom started washing up and then looked over the fence at the blokes dressed in white, and saw the grass was greener. He is as keen as mustard so he joined us full-time as a trainee, going to college once a week and is now climbing the kitchen ladder. The future looks bright.

Affectionately known as Smudger, Sean is a skinny chef with an army background, so he’s disciplined and hard working, quiet and very easy going, an ex boxer that loves playing the guitar, currently single… please address all inquiries to the Pant to be vetted by Lindsey, who likes to keep standards high.

When Lizzie first walked through the door in1998 she seemed so quiet and vulnerable we wondered how long she would last in the rough and tumble of a busy commercial kitchen, but we needn't have worried - she's a tough cookie who has progressed through talent, grit and determination. Go girl.

Andy is a truly enthusiastic budding chef who believes that the only thing worth talking about is food, food and food, and the only TV programmes worth watching are food, food and food. Apart from this, Andy used to be in a hard-core boy band called “Stoke Roses”, who featured a lot of rock anthems about….food. He used to date a girl called Charlotte, after the apple dessert.

Dave – aka Popeye - has been in the cheffing trade for many years including a spell working in the tavernas of the Greek islands where he perfected kebabs and moussaka. Dave follows a conflicting range of interests which include weight training, flower arranging, ‘tough guy’ competitions, running marathons and needlework. He also plays rugby for Whitchurch, and likes to wind down after a game with a campari and soda whilst listening to his favourite Ronan Keating and Westlife tunes.

Jamie had worked at the Pant on and off over the years and has joined the roving circuit following graduation from Leeds University in Sports Science. He’s a big rugby fan, and is from solid Scotish stock so has been known to be tempted by the kilt. He has B&P DNA running through his veins, living life to the full through beer, wine and food.

Richard has passed this way before, having been an assistant manager at the Dysart before leaving to pursue a career in golf. He also kept his hand in with some fine dining establishments in Leeds and Nottingham, but much prefers the relaxed ambience of B & P, so we're glad to have him back in the fold. He'll be in keen demand as a team-mate on company golf days, and would like it to be known that he is open to bribery.

Rob was originally a freelance web developer who built our site from scratch. He had to deal with our ignorance of the technology and its capabilities. We locked him in a cupboard with Duncan for a few weeks and they came up with this site.

Duncan has tried his hand at many things in the company, including managing pubs, without a great deal of success really. Duncan has responsibility for communications, so now he hangs around the office, communicating. Despite being completely bemused by technology, and in the absense of any particular ability or inclination, he was made editor of the website. He is the first point of contact for all things webby, and is always keen for new material (especially old material).