Weighbridge Brewhouse relaunches with a little help from its Friends

Long-established Swindon venue, The Weighbridge Brewhouse, relaunched last week, 26th June, with a refurbished restaurant and bar, and changes to its food and drink menus - thanks in part to its friendly Facebook followers.

The Weighbridge took to the popular social media site to apologise for previous changes at the venue that hadn’t quite “hit the mark”. The restaurant and bar asked its following to suggest what they would bring back and what new elements they would introduce for relaunch, with the aim of making it up to its loyal customer base.

Followers saw a number of their ideas implemented during a successful four-day relaunch, which invited guests from local businesses, press and loyal customers to the venue to attend lunch and dinner services, experience the new decor and enjoy live music from local artists. 

This included the reintroduction of The Weighbridge Brewhouse’s famed Dauphinoise potatoes, brought back by popular demand to complement its new, broader menu that boasts ingredients from handpicked local suppliers and a great offering for those with dietary requirements. 

Drinks at The Weighbridge Brewhouse have also been refreshed with a new cocktail menu - featuring delicious Strawberry Daiquiris and After Eight drinks - and a more extensive wine list by fine wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd.

The bar area has been overhauled with a striking, illuminated tree at its centre to create an informal bar space and a new feature wall filled with station clocks reconnects to the unique venue’s past as a weighing station for trains. Luxurious teal fabric stools line the bar, updated with new silver chrome pumps, to link the restaurant’s decor. 

The Weighbridge Brewhouse’s restaurant also features further illuminated golden maple trees throughout and a new wall of black and white pictures showcasing the Weighbridge building and Swindon’s railway heritage.

To celebrate its relaunch, The Weighbridge Brewhouse also ran a relaunch raffle to raise money for local Swindon charities, Prospect Hospice and Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home service, as well as Bowel Cancer UK. Prizes from The Weighbridge Brewhouse, its owners the Upham Group, and suppliers - such as Berry Bros & Rudd - as well as ticket purchases and generous donations from its valued customers, helped to raise £1,800 for the three charities.

David Butcher, director at The Weighbridge Brewhouse said: “The relaunch has been a wonderful event, allowing us to showcase the fantastic changes we’ve made to The Weighbridge Brewhouse, from the food and drink menus to the decor, as well as additional training for all our teams. It’s also enabled us to reconnect with some of our valued customers past and present, who we hope have enjoyed the changes - many of which have been thanks to their feedback online - and we look forward to seeing many more of them over the coming months.” 

David continued: “The icing on the cake has been the amount everyone has helped us raise for three amazing charities and we’d like to say a massive thank you to our staff, suppliers and our generous customers for getting behind it.”