John Fox, 48, plans to transform the former Ink Wave shop located in Railway Approach, East Grinstead, into a new micropub serving premium cask ales named The Open Arms.
John recently applied for the planning permission to make the transformation and is excited to be planning for his first micropub.
He said : “We will be sourcing the premium ales from local breweries in East Sussex.
“I have already got 18 on board so we would be able to have a different beer on offer each week for a long while.
“I chose East Grinstead as I wanted a nice busy town with a location near to the railway so there is lots of passing traffic.”
A micropub may be a new direction for Mr Fox but he has plenty of experience within the pub industry after being a part of it for the last 27 years. If the application is successful John will be opening The Open Arms with his business partner, Nick Madgitt.
He said: “There isn’t much work to be done so we would aim to have it open before Christmas.
“We are not aiming at young people who are looking to do shots as we are not applying for a licence to sell spirits.
“But it’s not going to be just an old man’s pub. I want to it to be trendy to appeal to ladies. We are also going to sell coffee for those using the station.”
If the micropub proves to be a success John plans to open a chain of them in the future calling them ‘The Furkin Small Pub Company’. He currently awaits a response from the Council on his application but a decision is to be made before the 4th of November.