A DERELICT Bournemouth town centre bar is being transformed into a pub with its own microbrewery and 100-seat beer garden.

It will have been more than two years since the last pint was pulled at The Branksome when it finally reopens under new branding later in 2016.

The owners of Brewhouse and Kitchen, which has already set-up an outlet in Poole and is just weeks away from opening in Southbourne, say they are making a “substantial investment” at the Commercial Road site near The Triangle.

Simon Bunn and business partner Kris Gumbrell have launched nine of the distinctive pubs across the country.

Mr Bunn told the Daily Echo that as well as a bar and restaurant, customers can expect a “proper brewery” complete with copper beer fonts, bric-a-brac, stripped wood décor and the “biggest beer garden in Bournemouth town centre”.

“We’re going to fit into this space really, really well – with Koh Thai, Rancho’s, The Goat and Tricycle, Smokin’ Aces, The Four Horsemen - the area is on the up without a shadow of a doubt,” he said.

“It will definitely be open this year and it is likely to be done during the summer period, if not just after.

“We are making a substantial investment and without this level of investment this building would not survive as a pub - because it is not a viable trading space.

“We will have taken over two pubs in Bournemouth – one in Southbourne and one here – and between the two of them we are creating upwards of 80 jobs in pubs that were boarded up and closed.”

He added that he wants to share his love of craft beers with customers and will be offering classes examining their characteristics and flavours.

“We are providing a unique experience in the area,” said Mr Bunn. “Where else would you stop off and learn about beer?

“Most people think beer is three different things – lager, bitter or stout – but we put beers into eight different categories.”

Meanwhile, Brewhouse and Kitchen’s refurbishment of the former Malt and Hops in Parkwood Road, Southbourne, is expected to be completed in around eight weeks. It closed suddenly in 2008 and had been unused ever since

Mandy Payne, past president of Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce, described the projects as “totally brilliant for the local economy”.

“We need jobs that local people can access - so this is absolutely brilliant news,” she said.

“It is a new world with these microbreweries opening - I think it is a new way forward for our high streets - they are definitely becoming more hospitality focused, as well as retail, so this idea is a a way of providing both.”

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