Adrian Emmett - The Lion

Adrian began his successful career in the hospitality industry in pubs and nightclubs in cities across England, before returning home to the Rhondda in 2011 to become landlord of The Lion. Listed as a commercial hotel as far back as 1881, The Lion has been owned by many different breweries and has had countless landlords, but perhaps none more community minded than Adrian. In his own words, the pub is “at the heart of the community. We’ve lost our churches, we’ve lost our youth clubs and social clubs – so you know, a pub has got a massive part to play.” Since Adrian took the helm, The Lion has won awards for Best Sports Bar and Best Community Pub at the Great British Pub Awards.

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Transcript

“I think pubs have got a real important role to play within our communities. I think that’s proven with the role The Lion’s taken within Treorchy. I’ve seen what’s happened to people when the pubs were shut over lockdown – and during lockdown the pub was a yard stick of you know, ‘Are the pubs shut? We’re in trouble. Pubs open, we’re ok.’ We’d forgotten how important pubs are. Every bus stop in the valleys was named after a pub, a real important part of our community... That’s where you hold your meetings, that’s where you go after work. And a really good pub in a community can transform that community unlike any other business.”