SHEFFIELD COMMUNITY PUB REOPENS AFTER ALMOST £220,000 MAKEOVER
The Silkstone Arms on Silkstone Road, Sheffield reopened on Wednesday 18th December following a transformational investment of nearly £220,000. The pub is part of Proper Pubs, the award-winning community wet-led operator division of Admiral Taverns, which operates more than 200 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales.
Behind the bar are community heroes and passionate operator duo, Thomas Wickstone and Thomas Furniss, who are both local to the area. Thomas Furniss brings a wealth of knowledge of experience to the pub having worked in the industry for more than five years whilst for Thomas Wickstone, this is an exciting new venture and his first foray into running a pub. The pair is extremely excited to be coming to the helm of such a vibrant community pub and looks forward to bringing it to the heart of Sheffield.
Inside, the pub has received a complete transformation including a revamped bar area and brand-new fixtures, fittings, flooring and furniture throughout to refresh the pub’s overall look and give it a more welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for customers. In addition, The Silkstone Arms is complete with new dartboards for the more competitive visitors to enjoy. Outside, the pub boasts newly updated signage and brand-new lighting to brighten the exterior, whilst the terraced area at the front of the pub now features three new picnic benches for customers to perch on.
To celebrate the reopening, the pub hosted a live music performance from local duo, Cooper & Taylor, on Wednesday 18th December with entertainment continuing throughout the weekend. On Friday 20th The Silkstone Arms will run an 80s themed night from 6pm followed by a live DJ set from local DJ, Paul Bell, on Saturday 21st from 7pm.
The Silkstone Arms will offer a wide range of drinks offers, including Wine Wednesday, where customers can get £2 off a bottle, Fizz Friday, offering customers a bottle of fizz for £10, along with cocktails, bottle and shot deals throughout the week.
Thomas Wickstone and Thomas Furniss, operators of The Silkstone Arms,said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be taking over the pub and have loved witnessing the incredible transformation over the last few weeks. The Silkstone Arms looks brilliant and it’s been a delight welcoming the community back and we can’t wait to meet as many more local residents as possible over the course of the weekend.”
On top of the fantastic drinks selection, The Silkstone Arms will run a busy schedule of entertainment including regular live music as well as frequent quiz and games nights. The pub will have both pool and darts teams for the more competitive visitors to take part in.
Going forward, the operators are committed to supporting all aspects of local life and will start by collecting food for a nearby food bank and raising funds to have a lifesaving defibrillator installed. They also hope to work closely with Scowerdons Community Centre, located right next door to the pub, and support this worthy local cause in any way possible.
Matthew Gurney, Operations Director for Proper Pubs, said: “It’s been a pleasure seeing the vision for The Silkstone Arms come to life and I am really pleased to welcome the fantastic operators! Their passion for the pub and community is tangible and I look forward to seeing all that’s to come for this very special pub.
On behalf of the Proper Pubs team, we would like to wish our community heroes every success in making the pub a fantastic hub for the local area.”
Proper Pubs is always looking for ways to support its communities through an annual schedule of events and fundraising initiatives. In March, it was crowned Community Pub Operator at the Publican Awards, and more recently raised nearly £100,000 in just three months for various local charities across the UK. In September 2024, the Group successfully donated enough food to local foodbanks across the UK to feed 1,300 people for a week and has also been recognised for its UK-wide defibrillator installation campaign
which has already saved 11 lives.
This year, operators across Proper Pubs’ estate successfully collected 16,000 advent calendars to donate to local charities and communities in need and have also been encouraging their customers to write Christmas cards to those who will be experiencing loneliness this Christmas.
The Silkstone Arms is located on Silkstone Road, Sheffield S12 4RP
