The landlord of The Globe has spoken of his desire to rebuild a sense of community after taking over the pub.

Zandor Lowe, who took over the pub earlier this year, told the Advertiser that he “took a chance” on the pub. “I come from an entertainment background,” he said. “and have dealt with a lot of pubs for the past 15 years.

“I’ve seen [The Globe] through good times and bad times, and landlords, and I’ve been looking at the place for a lot of years. Despite conditions being what they are, I decided to take a chance.”

He said that he wanted to get The Globe back to “what we grew up with,” a place where “landlords knew your name” and the landlord was a source of conversation, “with counselling behind that.”

“I remember one happy family in the Borough Arms,” Zandor said, referring to the pub he used to visit which closed in 2010. He continued: “We don’t have that sense of trust anymore.”

He added: “Reputation is very important. I have to be a bit gung-ho at the moment, to make sure there’s no shenanigans.”

As part of his plans to revitalise the pub, he is hoping to bring back a variety of events to the pub, which he hopes will help him compete with other drinking establishments in the area.

“Spoons is impersonal,” he said. “[They] and The Redbridge are our only rivals, and entertainment is where we can compete.”

The pub has so far hosted events such as meat draws and bingo, but is hoping to diversify its offering when Covid restrictions allow, including “music, comedy, open mic nights, and poetry.”

“The entertainment side is where we thrive,” he said, “and we’re itching to have that. We want to make it somewhere there’ll be a lot of stuff on the go.”

Another aspect of Zandor’s plans is bringing back food. To live up to the pub’s name, he’s hoping to have “a global approach” to food, though the ingredients will be locally sourced and the meals homemade.

However, all these plans will be for naught if the pub can’t survive the pandemic. With The Globe having taken all the measures necessary to keep guests safe during the pandemic, their capacity is much reduced. “It’s frustrating,” he said. “There’s no point putting on these entertainments if we can’t get the crowds, and we just don’t know at the moment.”

“I don’t want to have to give it up just as we get to the position to turn it around,” Zandor said.

“As long as I can keep the staff paid, I can stay open,” he said, adding: “we’re getting there, slowly but surely.”