Best Pub is Scruffy's

A Big Big thank you to all our loyal customers and the people who have supported Scruffy's over the last 4 years. This support and loyalty has now paid of with Scruffy Murphy's being awarded with Best Premium Bar for the Midlands area 2005 by the Morning advertiser.

You can read the full story below and if you want a bit more click her to have a look at our write up in The Birmingham Evening Mail.

Below is the article printed in the Morning Advertiser 27th January 2005

It may sound like an Irish bar and parts of the interior may look like one, but Scruffy Murphy's in Birmingham city centre lost its Emerald Isle links a long time ago. Today, the pub is the heavy rock capital of Brum, unashamedly attracting a varied and colourful assortment of the weird and the wonderful who support this alternative music culture.

Licensee Lorraine Mills, a veteran of some 30 years in the licensed trade, knows a thing or two about running pubs. So when she was approached to take on Scruffy's four years ago, she immediately realised it would take something very special to ensure its success.

Its location, on the fringe of the vibrant Bull Ring and city centre area, would normally have given the business a head start. But this particular Scruffy's had long lost its Irish magic and Lorraine knew it would have to be led in a totally different direction if it was not to be shut forever.

"I made an instant decision to make the place a music pub specialising in specific areas such as heavy rock, punk and gothic," recalls Lorraine, who is pictured with her partner Paul Phillips. "We decided to keep the name, mainly because the place had been originally designed on this retail brand. But any resemblance to an Irish bar stops there; it's just not our scene." Students are one of the pub's core customer markets, but Scruffy's also plays host to local bodies such as the Vampire Society and the Pagan Society.

At lunchtimes and early in the evenings, the pub attracts office staff, lawyers and other professionals. Come night-time, an altogether different customer base emerges and the sights and sounds are a wonder to behold. The basement bar has been converted into a live music venue that regularly plays host to a mix of established and up-and-coming bands from all over the Midlands.

The Carling Academy has proved a good neighbour with many attending music events there taking advantage of Scruffy's late-night trading hours later in the evening.

Food business is also being developed to capitalise on a growing daytime trade and service the late licence, which was obtained just over 12 months ago.

Drinks prices are geared to meet the requirements of a mainly youthful market and with Stella and Guinness at just £2.20 a pint, it's clear why the pub has become such a magnet.