Part-owners David and Sonya Dean said the first 12 months of running the pub has been fantastic.

“When you take on something like this, you hope that everything works out and it has panned out better than planned,” David said.

“We are very lucky and we have a great team of people who work for us and great customers.” 

The establishment was purchased for $5.6 million in 2017 by the duo in partnership with Newcastle hoteliers Sam and Laura Cruickshank, Jim Cruickshank and Jack Ford after being listed by a syndicate of former owners in July.

Sonya said they have made some slight alterations and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 

“People to like come in see us behind the bar and having a bit of laugh,” she said.

“We’ve seen an increase of, at least, 50 per cent.”

Their joint resume is impressive - David and Sonya have been involved with tens of pubs across the Riverina, including Wagga’s Sportsmen’s Hotel, Corowa’s Royal Hotel and the Riverina Hotel in Holbrook.

“You can’t just come into a hotel like this with no experience,” she said. 

“It’s not going to work at all. We wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t done other hotels.

“This is the biggest we had.”

The part-owners are no strangers to long hours, working 12-hour days.

“Our biggest challenge was trying to get people to come back,” she said.

“It was word of mouth mostly to encourage people to come back and give it a go.

“A lot of people also knew David and I from around town so when they heard we were here, they popped in to try it out.” 

The duo spent years of flipping pubs but, Sonya said the establishment on Bolger Avenue is the final chapter to their story.

“We will be here for years to come,” she said.

David and Sonya said they were grateful for the support of the community in their first year and look forward to what’s next. 

While you’re with us, did you know that you can now receive updates straight to you inbox each day at 6am from the Daily Advertiser? To make sure you’re up to date with all the Wagga news sign up here.