The team behind Sheffield institution Corporation, led by Managing Director David Savereux, and local pub botherer Joe Rugg are teaming up to reinvigorate one of London Road’s best-known pubs.
Joe – founder of Abbeydale Road Beer Festival, Pintstock and the popular social media account Pints of Sheffield – has joined forces with David and the team to take over The Albion, with ambitious plans to turn the pub into a seven-day destination for craft beer lovers, locals and football fans alike.
The pair say the project grew naturally out of their work together on Pintstock, before conversations shifted towards a longer-term dream of creating a community-focused pub.
“David dropped into conversation a while ago that he’d been looking to buy a pub,” Joe explained. “And he was like, ‘How would you feel about coming on board with that?’”
“No one’s ever come to me and gone, ‘Buy a pub with me.’”
From there, the project quickly became what David describes as an “Avengers Assemble” collaboration, pulling together some of Sheffield’s best-known names from the city’s food, drink and design scenes.
“The whole project has kind of been that in terms of obviously getting Joe involved, getting the other people involved, using businesses that already exist within Sheffield to collaborate and springboard things forward,” said David.
That includes Sheffield wine specialists Barks Wine, who are curating a bespoke wine list for the venue.
“It’s almost like a miniaturised wine shop-quality menu within a pub,” David said. “We’re also planning to do something similar with the cocktails.”
Joe added: “The wine will be more interesting than a normal pub, but we still want it to be a price point that’s inclusive.”
The redesign is meanwhile being led by Emily Croft Design, the studio behind the interiors at secret Sheffield city centre hangout Not Open; Don’t Come.
“We’re going for a little bit of a classic nautical but with a little bit of a mid-century twist,” Emily explained. “We’re upholstering a lot of the existing bar stools as well, just to try and keep it as sustainable as possible.”
Joe added: “We want the inside of the pub to feel like a really nice cosy pub essentially. And then we’ve got the beauty of this big outdoor area for the summer as well.”
While the pub is currently operating three days a week, the full launch is planned for 5 June, when The Albion will move to opening seven days a week.
The long-term vision includes a full kitchen build, an upgraded outdoor space and a programme of live music and acoustic performances, while still retaining the pub’s identity as a popular Blades matchday spot.
“It wants to be a fun place and a place that people can come all the time,” Joe said.
For now, food will centre around pizzas served from the existing outdoor kitchen space, though the team have bigger plans further down the line.
“The dream is to turn that into a full commercial kitchen,” Joe said. “We’re going to have a few different brands for different genres of food.
“We’re really keen to do big pizzas by the slice because sometimes people don’t want to order a 12-inch pizza. They just want a bite to eat, just a nice big slice of pizza at a reasonable price.”
Beer, naturally, will remain central to the venue’s identity, with Joe keen to balance craft offerings alongside the demands of a traditional football pub.
“We want it to be a classic pub with a modern mindset,” he said.
“Obviously, I’m involved, so the beer selection is really important to me. But we’re going to do a full mocktail list as well, loads of AF options and hopefully an AF beer on tap at launch.”
Plans also include space for acoustic performances inside the pub, with Joe even hoping to install a piano for impromptu singalongs on matchdays.
“We’ve allocated a space inside where we’re going to have space for live acoustic guitarists,” he said. “I just love the idea on a matchday of a piano being in there and someone coming down and playing the songs and everyone singing. It’s like a nice atmosphere.”
Both Joe and David believe the project could help bring fresh energy back to London Road’s nightlife and hospitality scene.
“At a time when pubs are struggling and people are having a tough time, I think it’s a great bit of news for Sheffield,” David said. “Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements. Hopefully to push things forward.”
Joe added: “If we can bring back people who’ve stopped coming to drink on London Road, then all of the places on the road can benefit from that when they’re coming or leaving this place, that’s what we want.”
Head over to their socials for more updates.
