A LANDMARK pub has been taken over — with its new owner pledging to transform its fortunes, despite the effects of the recession.

Mark Greenwood is the new director of the Bear and Ragged Staff, at Cumnor, which he said had “massive potential”.

He said: “It is an under-performing business in an area that is just five miles from Oxford, Abingdon and Witney.

“Anyone can be in this pub at almost any time of day, and at the same time it is a great countryside location.”

He has spent about £15,000 refurbishing the interior, stripping walls back to the original stonework and exposing traditional beams.

Manchester-born, Mr Greenwood has spent most of his career in the East, working as a stockbroker in countries such as Dubai and Hong Kong, before he invested in bars and restaurants in Thailand.

A father-of-two, he chose to come to Oxford to ensure his daughters Carmel, 16, and Noelle, 11, received a good education.

And once he has revived the fortunes of the Bear and Ragged Staff, he intends to invest in other country pubs to give them a similar facelift.

“I want to apply the principles of service and food I have learned in Bangok,” he said. Mr Greenwood is sourcing local food and using the Standlake-based Oxford Wine Company to help stock the wine cellar, with Greene King supplying real ales and keg beers.

In time, he wants to help support bear-themed charities and introduce a teddy bear’s picnic in the summer in a bid to buck the trend of pub closures in Oxfordshire and across the country.

In the past five years, at least 17 pubs in Oxford have closed down, prompting calls from the Campaign for Real Ale for people to support their local pubs.

The Bear and Ragged Staff dates back to the 13th century and in Elizabethan times belonged to the Earl of Leicester.

It became a pub in 1862, but in recent years has had a chequered history with a succession of landlords and a change of owner from former Oxford-based Morrells to Suffolk brewery Greene King.

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