The Listing welcomes Martin Prescott, of Nutwood Pubs, who owns and manages three venues just outside of Royston…
The Woodman Inn in Nuthampstead, a delightful traditional country venue, steeped in local history and with a unique connection to the US Air Force by way of it having been located right at the centre of a huge WW2 air base; The Pheasant in Great Chishill, a ‘heart of the village’ pub since re-opening in June 2021, delivering quality food and drinks with first class hospitality included, and weekly food-led specials such as Ruby (curry) Tuesdays and pie night every Wednesday; and finally, the Three-9-Eight Coffee Barn opened at the Woodman in December 2022, providing a popular daytime addition to the Nutwood Group. Whether you’re meeting friends after a walk (or cycle) in the local countryside, or simply taking advantage of the super-fast broadband to work or study in peace and quiet, fresh coffee and a slice of delicious homemade cake will be guaranteed to make your day.
Where do you live and how long have you lived there…
I now have a place just outside Cottered Village, but I’d lived and worked in North London for many years before moving at the end of 2021. I don’t regret leaving London for a second; the local people and places around here have all been so warm and welcoming that I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to make my escape. The only slight caveat is that I’ve not yet found a good Japanese or Korean restaurant within easy driving range, but there are some fantastic pub restaurants in the area . . .
Tell us about your 3 venues, what they offer and how they differ? 
The Woodman Inn in Nuthampstead was the first venue to be acquired by Nutwood, and is still in many respects the ‘work in progress’ it has been since December 2018. It’s a delightful traditional country venue, steeped in local history and with a unique connection to the US Air Force by way of it having been located right at the centre of a huge WW2 air base. Nowadays, aside from the museum and memorials by the pub, you honestly wouldn’t know how significant a part it played at that time.
The shape, size and layout of the Woodman allow it to offer a wide range of family-friendly leisure and hospitality facilities – including weddings, themed day and night events, private parties, etc. – and the food offering is deservedly considered to be one of the best and most reliable in North Herts. The letting rooms at the Woodman are clean and comfortable and are regularly booked weeks in advance.
In addition to its popular regular events – supper clubs, quiz nights and the occasional psychic supper – the Woodman is where you’ll see Nutwood experimenting many new and exciting concepts. For example, we’ll be running a conker festival in October, and plans are afoot to bring bingo to Nuthampstead, albeit with a unique Nutwood twist! I’m also still committed to the idea of a mid-week ‘singles’ night, but Manager George seems to think there aren’t any local singles that would be brave enough to turn up!
The Pheasant in Great Chishill joined the Nutwood Group more recently, but it has already become very much the ‘heart of the village’ since re-opening in June 2021. Although now warm and welcoming, the Pheasant had been closed for many months before undergoing a thorough overhaul and modernisation after it was acquired. The combination of a great Nutwood team and the enthusiastic support and encouragement of the local community has helped it to achieve genuine ‘home-from-home’ status.
Manager Mike and his team at the Pheasant deliver quality food and drinks with first class hospitality included, and there are also special offerings and events to tempt anyone in the door. The themed dining events (first Thursday of the month) are invariably booked up in advance, but we also offer weekly food-led specials; Ruby (curry) Tuesdays and pie night every Wednesday are always very well-attended.
The Three-9-Eight Coffee Barn opened at the Woodman in December 2022 and has proved to be a popular daytime addition to the Nutwood Group. Whether you’re meeting friends after a walk (or cycle) in the local countryside, or simply taking advantage of the super-fast broadband to work or study in peace and quiet, fresh coffee and a slice of delicious homemade cake will be guaranteed to make your day.
What drives you?
I’ve always considered myself to be an entrepreneur first and foremost, but my definition of that term widened considerably once I started to realise that any knowledge, skills and experience I’d acquired in business could equally be applied to many other situations.
My first meaningful exposure to anything other than family or business came when I was elected to local office as a Councillor in the London Borough of Enfield in 2002. It was only from then that I started to realise the importance of ‘community’; how people can come together to protect and provide for each other as a group, rather than the more individualistic ‘dog-eat-dog’ existence which is all I’d really known before.
Don’t get me wrong, I can certainly be as competitive, combative and assertive as I need to be in order to survive and prosper, but being an entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily mean you always have to win, nor that you can’t bring other people along with you. Empathy and fairness are important factors too, as are the willingness to compromise and to act in a reasonable manner at all times.
As a local councillor, I learned a lot more about other people’s pressures and sensitivities; how circumstances I’d never even considered could be positively ‘make-or-break’ to many people if they didn’t know how to deal with them. I found that my lifelong resistance to ‘taking “no” for an answer’ really helped when trying to navigate my way around the ‘system’ to achieve results for the people I’d been elected to serve. It’s obvious for others to judge, but I firmly believe my 12 years as a local councillor in Enfield delivered overwhelmingly positive benefits for my local community.
Skip forward to 2021 and I’m now working with another local community to return a defunct pub – the Pheasant, Great Chishill – to its rightful place as the ‘heart of the village’ and a much-loved local asset. After having taken a back seat by allowing others to run my first pub in their own way, it was like a light going on again in my head. I was back in familiar territory; working with local residents to achieve a greater good for the whole community.
This is what drives me…
An interesting question for you, but beyond your venues, what’s your favourite local place to eat?
That’s a bit of a tough one to answer, as I tend to either eat out at one of the Nutwood restaurants or simply combine a workday in London with a visit to one of my favourite haunts in the evening. If you can point me towards anywhere special locally, however, (I’ve not yet found a good Japanese or Korean restaurant within easy driving range), there’s nothing much I won’t try.
What is the last book you read?
I was fascinated by a recent Radio 4 series on the economist Adam Smith, so I’m presently working my way through his ‘Wealth of Nations’. I have to admit it’s a bit heavy going, however, so I also have the latest Robert Harris novel ‘Act of Oblivion’ on my bedside table for a little light relief.
What makes you happy?
This is going to sound really corny, but what makes me really happy is making other people happy. There was a line in the Ricky Gervais TV series ‘After Life’ that went something like, “Happiness is amazing. It’s so amazing, it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not.” I really get that. To give you an example, I remember attending an evening event at the Woodman in the immediate aftermath of the final Covid lockdown. It was a lovely, lively occasion, and the happiness (and no doubt relief) on the faces of customers and staff alike was so overwhelming that it almost moved me to tears.
How do you keep fit?
I swim lengths almost every day, and I seem to walk miles backwards and forwards in my house, but that’s only because I’ve usually forgotten why I’m there when I get to one end or the other! On the positive side, I don’t smoke (at all) or drink (to excess), and I try to avoid all but fresh and minimally-processed foods – don’t ever try to convert me to veganism though.
What is the most challenging aspect of your position?
I’ve had many ups and down in my life, sometimes as a result of poor decisions I’ve made, but often because circumstances have seemed to conspire against me (and not always me alone). Whatever the case, I’ve never failed to find a route through even the greatest of difficulties. The most challenging aspect for anybody that’s had similar experiences is invariably trying to stay positive, and to keep a smile on your face in order to inspire confidence in those around you to show that you really know what you’re doing – even when you’re not entirely sure you do!
What is your proudest moment?
No question about this one. The birth of my twin daughters was most definitely the proudest moment of my life. The birth of my son 3yrs later came a close second, but almost everything else pales into insignificance.
If you ruled the world, what would you do?
Right now I think I’d fire the Governor of the Bank of England. His blind insistence in trying to ‘fix’ inflation by raising interest rates, when consumer demand is blindingly obviously not the cause of it this time around, is both crippling the economy and needlessly plunging many millions of people and businesses into financial catastrophe. That said, if I actually ruled the world, there may be one or two other things I’d do first!
Which four people you would invite to dinner?
Julius Caesar, Queen Elizabeth 1st, Winston Churchill and my mum. The conversation may well be fascinating, but I bet I know who’d get the biggest laughs. They’d all love her cakes too.
Three 9 Eight Coffee Barn, Nuthampstead, SG8 8NB – www.three9eight.com – 01763 848328
The Pheasant, Great Chishill, SG8 8SR – www.pheasantgc.com 01763 838535
The Woodman Inn, Nuthampstead, SG8 8NB – www.woodmannuthampstead.com 01763 848328
Nutwood Pubs – www.nutwoodpubs.com
