YORK pub entrepreneur Pete Pendlebury is to work his magic on the Beeswing pub on Hull Road, York.

Mr Pendlebury relaunched The Junction in Leeman Road earlier this month and also runs The Windmill and The Bay Horse, both in Blossom Street, and the Cock & Bottle on Skeldergate.

Mr Pendlebury took on the running of the Beeswing, owned by Enterprise Inns, in February this year after its previous landlord Phil Cain was killed in a car accident.

Mr Cain, 66, who lived in Driffield, had been at the Beeswing for 23 years and also used to own a chip shop in Hull Road.

The pub will reopen on May 26 as the Beeswing Ale House after a refurbishment to enhance its traditional features, Mr Pendlebury said. One side of the pub will have wooden flooring and there will be a lounge area with soft furnishings.

Zoe Nichols, who worked for Mr Pendlebury when she was a student in York, will manage the pub, which will specialise in guest ales and wines to attract the local community and students to the pub.

Mr Pendlebury now runs eight pubs in York, seven on behalf of Enterprise Inns and one on behalf of Punch Taverns. “I have got a good track record in the pub game so I spoke to Enterprise Inns to see if I could have a look at any opportunities they had available,” he said.

He said Enterprise Inns is progressive in investing in the refurbishments and allowing him to pay them back as the pubs improve.

“I have done it with the Bay Horse, The Junction and I’m going to do it with the Cock & Bottle on Skeldergate too, which I’ve had for about seven months now. It’s getting busier every week.”