From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Dean Kilpatrick, 29 May 2019.

'European-style café bar' to open in Sandwich.

A new “European-style café bar” is set to open in Sandwich after plans were given the green light by councillors.

The Old Pharmacy in King Street was granted an alcohol licence by Dover District Council yesterday, with applicant Pierre Ayers promising his venture will help the town centre become a “little bit more upmarket”.

A hearing was held after fears were raised by Rachel Collins, who said her home had already been impacted by the “parking, litter, smoke, refuse, arguing and fighting, and music” generated by another nearby premises.

The site on King Street in Sandwich that will become a cafe bar.

She said: “I made an objection to the application based on my concerns about noise and anti-social behaviour to local residents, of which I am one.

“I live in the property next door but one, and I’m just concerned this won’t be a case of alcohol served with meals.

"It will be a bar and, as such, it will be quite noisy. This would interrupt my daily life and ability to sleep and so on.”

She also claimed the outside drinking area was “just metres from the back bedroom” she sleeps in if the other bar is making too much noise.

But the applicant told councillors that other residents have been “extremely supportive” of the proposal.

“We will not be serving cheap alcohol so there will be no drunkenness or poor behaviour..." - Pierre Ayers

The business is aiming to attract “families and the mature customer” by offering something different to the "traditional, old-fashioned" pubs in the town.

Mr Ayers said the majority of drink orders would be served with meals at the “European-style café bar”, with complimentary canapés also offered as part of a “more responsible way of serving alcohol”.

He added: “We will not be serving cheap alcohol so there will be no drunkenness or poor behaviour.

“We will closely monitor our customers’ behaviour as part of our legal obligations and the licensing objectives, and the business isn’t aimed at the kind of clientele who would behave poorly anyway.”

The business will open daily at 11am and close at 5pm Mondays to Wednesdays, 9pm from Thursdays to Saturdays, and 4pm on Sundays. There are currently no plans to extend the trading hours.

All three members of the licensing sub-committee supported the application, although they added a condition which prevents drinks from being taken outside at the front of the café bar.

Mr Ayers concluded: “We understand locals may be concerned with noise, but the fact we’ve only had one representation is testament to the fact we tried to engage with local residents and businesses.

“We have been mindful of not wanting to cause any nuisance when putting together our business plan and our proposed opening times, which we genuinely believe won’t impact local people adversely.”

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Eleanor Perkins, 29 November 2019.

New coffee and cocktail bar The Old Pharmacy opens in Sandwich thanks to council grant.

A council grant has helped transform an empty shop into a European-style coffee and cocktail bar in Sandwich.

David and Andrew Ayers were awarded £10,000 from Dover District Council to help with renovation costs of the King Street building which was most recently clothes shop, Funky Granny, Groovy Grandpa.

Andrew Ayers and business partner David have opened The Old Pharmacy in Sandwich.

Now named The Old Pharmacy in homage to its earlier life as a chemist, it has been redesigned into a modern drinking spot, to complement the town's more traditional pubs.

They serve coffee by day and cocktails in the evening and also welcome families.

Andrew Ayers said: "Both of us have worked in hospitality for a number of years and wanted to do something fun and different.

"We're focussing on the after work, pre-dinner drinks with a selection of cocktails and local wines on offer.

"We're excited to finally open and look forward to being part of the Sandwich hospitality scene.”

The modern bar at the front of the building Picture: AverDesign.

The funding came from the Town Centre Business Grant Scheme which is aimed at improving the town centres in Dover, Deal and Sandwich.

It encourages new, small businesses to use empty properties and existing businesses to smarten up their shop fronts.

Another successful applicant in recent months was Harry Richardson of the "Elephant and Hind" pub in Market Square in Dover.

Mr Ayers continued: "We've had a really great reception from people since we opened. As well as people from Sandwich we've had customers from Deal, Ramsgate and further afield.

"We serve complimentary canapés with our drinks which have gone down really well.

The comfortable lounge at the back of the new coffee spot Picture: AverDesign.

"People also love what we've done with the interior as it's three separate rooms and courtyard, with the front bar having a very different feel to the lounges at the back.

"We’d like to thank DDC for the grant which helped make this possible."

Roger Walton, DDC strategic director, said: “This is another great example of how Dover District Council’s Town Centre Business Grant Scheme can help to support local business across the district.”

The Old Pharmacy is open from 4pm until 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays, noon until 9pm on Saturdays and noon until 3pm on Sundays.

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Louis Walker, 5 August 2025.

New owners of The Old Pharmacy bar in Sandwich given green light to open until 11pm.

The new owners of a town centre bar urged councillors to support hospitality venues - moments before their bid to stay open until 11pm was approved.

Husband-and-wife team Caroline and Matthew Allom took on The Old Pharmacy bar in Sandwich with business partner Ben Nash earlier this year.

Ben Nash and Caroline Allom, of The Old Pharmacy in Sandwich, asked Dover District Council for permission to extend the site’s opening hours.

The trio applied to Dover District Council (DDC) to increase the site’s opening hours to 11pm from Thursday to Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.

And their plan was approved by the authority’s licensing sub-committee yesterday (Monday) after Mr Nash stated how pubs are the “lifeblood of England”.

“We just want more flexibility in our hours because 12pm until 4pm on Sunday is a very small window with which to trade, and what we find is that by the time it gets to about 2pm we start to get busy,” he said.

“But then at 4pm we have to close the doors, when we’re actually just starting to get going.

“Recently, the Chancellor made the point of saying that bars and pubs are the lifeblood of England, and about 378 are expected to close in 2025 alone.

“I just think it’s important we are given as much support as we can.

“We’ve certainly noticed we get an awful lot of customers coming to Sandwich, from Deal, Dover, Ash, and I think us being there is becoming quite an integral part of the Sandwich business community.”

Mr Nash added that additional support was needed in the town, which, last month, lost much-loved tapas restaurant, "Tan Bueno," after eight years in New Street.

A notice in the window of the site states that after the loss of their head chef, the owners have decided to step back from running the busy spot and spend more time as a family.

An objector to the The Old Pharmacy Bar application argued the current 10pm closing time was already late enough, and expressed concern over potential nuisance from customers leaving after 11pm in a densely populated area.

However, Mrs Allom added that although the licence would grant them the opportunity to close later, the business would still be advertised to close at 10pm Thursday to Saturday.

“My husband and I live in Whitstable and the hours we currently trade, we feel, are more than enough for us as a family with the travelling and so on,” she said.

“But we would like the opportunity, say if there was an occasion such as someone’s birthday, to be able to open later and on a Sunday, it will help us keep up the momentum.

“We are a new business, we’ve only been open a few months, so we’re still getting to know our customers, but we are really well supported by the locals in Sandwich.”

‘It feels like we have become an integral part of the community…’

After a short discussion, DDC’s licensing sub-committee voted to approve the application.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Nash, who recently moved to Sandwich, said: “It’s great to get the extension, and although our advertised hours will stay the same, we wanted to have the option to stay open later.

“At the end of the day, it is a business, but we love Sandwich and all our customers, and as I said, it feels like we have become an integral part of the community.

“But it is tough to trade, obviously, we’ve just seen "Tan Bueno" close, but this will give us a bit more flexibility and hopefully the support can continue as we hope to really enhance the town.”

Mr Nash added the next step will be to acquire a street furniture licence to allow for additional seating at the establishment.