Liberation Group invests 400,000 in Town Bar at The Halkett

A new drinking and dining experience which has opened in the heart of St Helier is the result of a £400,000 investment by the Channel Islands largest pubs and drinks company.

The Halkett opened recently after a six-week complete refurbishment and transformation of the popular town bar and meeting place, Fridays. It represents the Liberation Group’s largest single investment as part of its ongoing refurbishment in its pub estate in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney and is a 21st century makeover of a site where a pub has stood for generations. However, not everything is new; the managers, Martin and Jackie Kelly are still firmly behind the bar.

The Chief Executive of the Liberation Group, Mark Crowther, said word was getting round fast resulting in The Halkett attracting faces old and new.

"This is our biggest spend to date and it has delivered an upmarket bar and eatery for a discerning clientele. It is also fast getting a name for having the classiest ladies loos in Jersey which boast comfy sofas, ornate mirrors, a feature fire and a flat screen television. It is well worth popping into The Halkett to see the quality of the finish and to sample the extensive range of wines, beers and soft drinks and the new menus serving local produce," he said.

The refurbishment of The Halkett is part of a bigger package of improvements and acquisitions since the Liberation Group was established in July 2008 as the largest pubs and drinks business in the Channel Islands. In May Dix Neuf in Halkett Street and The Post Horn reopened after refurbishments which cost £50,000 and £64,000 respectively. In the late autumn of 2009, another of the Group’s managed pubs, St Mary’s Country Inn, underwent a total refurbishment of the premises at a cost of £250,000. In January this year the Group acquired the Rozel Bay Inn and in April saved The Bar on the waterfront from closure. Similar investments are also being made in Guernsey where £70,000 has this year been spent on Dix Neuf’s namesake in St Peter Port’s Commercial Arcade.

As well as satisfying the growing demand for cask ales, Mr Crowther said The Halkett served the best lager offering in Jersey as well as a well-stocked wine cellar including 16 by the glass. Pilsner Urquell, the original Czech lager, has also been launched on draught at the outlet. In addition there will be live performances by Island musicians every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"We have deliberately moved away from the previous theme and offering which proved popular with the young ‘late night’ set to seeking to appeal to a broader market from lunchtime food, a drink after work, coffee over a meeting to great live music in the evening," he said.