Justine Lorriman is humble about winning the BII’s Licensee of the Year Award. She says, she never expected to win, having been thrilled just to have got through to the finals. There was already a jam-packed summer ahead, with the EUROS followed by a full calendar of events, which Justine organises to keep the pub busy outside of the football season. But, while winning has been overwhelming at times, it has also been brilliant.
Justine isn’t new to publicity or being in the limelight. Over the years she has attracted global media interest for her football-centric pub, which has followed Burnley FC’s meteoritic rise and is named after the former-Burnley FC manager, Sean Dyche (famous for reinvigorating the club and taking it into the UEFA Europa League).
“Winning the award has really given me confidence in myself,” says Justine, who is a sole operator and whose hard-work, insight and enthusiasm has not only transformed the business but ensured its spectacular success.
“With it being just me running the pub, it’s difficult to know if I’m doing the right thing. My wife, Steph, says I have a confidence issue, and that’s because I’ve not got anyone to seek advice from. But since getting involved with the awards, I feel that I’ve been taken under the wing of the BII. I’ve met so many incredible people and know that I now have that extra support, which is brilliant.”
What the Burnley FC superfan, Justine, has created at The Royal Dyche over the past 11 years is nothing short of incredible. She has turned what was a run-down boozer with massive problems – it was at the centre of the racism riots in the summer of 2001 – into a community hub.
She has built great relationships with her regulars, the football club, charities and even Sean Dyche – who gave his blessing for the name change.
Her hospitality career journey began when she was in her third year at university, studying sports coaching, when her dad (wanting a local he could drink at) encouraged her to take on The Princess Royal, as the pub was known then. Running a pub hadn’t been on the agenda at that point, with her plans focused on taking a year out to travel before finding a job as a PE Teacher. But in June 2013, she signed a five-year lease, followed by setting up a limited company in January 2014 – and getting herself an accountant.
“Trade was doing way better than expected and I realised how serious it was to run a pub and have a business. I wanted to do things by the book.” By 2018 she had saved up enough for a deposit to buy the £170,000 freehold – with a mortgage, which she is proud to say that she has since paid off.
“What I love about pubs is that you never know who is going to walk in that door or call you up. I was on Times Radio, after I put out a tweet about opening the pub early for [East Lancashire] Derby day.” The post went viral – receiving more than 300,000 views – after Justine retweeted that the bar would close at 8.50am, so the staff could have a go at getting Oasis tickets.
Justine has a way of making magic with things that could so easily be mediocre. From her first 12 months, which were, in her words “nasty”, to a name change and total rebranding, to going on to win the industry’s most coveted award. As a 21-year-old woman, having worked part-time in some of the roughest pubs in Burnley, she says she was well able to weed out the customers she didn’t want, to create her own client base. “When fists are flying, it’s better to be a woman splitting the fight up. I felt I could get my voice heard.”
But it was the pub’s name change that really turned things around. Rebranded as The Royal Dyche, Justine created a special and much-loved space that Burnley FC fans and non-football lovers alike enjoy – it’s not all about football, with plenty of events and entertainment to suit everyone.
“The name change put us in the spotlight and the pub became easier to market.” The change of name had started out as banter, with Justine writing on the chalkboard ‘Sean, get us into Europe and not only will you drink here for free… we will name this pub The Dyche’. It became media and marketing gold, with Sean featured on the pub sign dressed in royal regalia as Henry VIII.
Now regulars even take The Royal Dyche branding with them on football tours, after Justine had a Royal Dyche flag made (costing just £150). The flag often gets picked up by the TV cameras and gives the pub – which is popular with overseas fans – added publicity.
Justine never misses a trick to push the business forward, and she puts her success down to knowing what regulars and customers want. “When we do an event, I always offer a free meal, I do a sausage casserole or beef and ale stew in the slow cooker and feed 30-40 people. It costs me £20, yet it means the world to them. It gives the pub a family feel. I love making food and they love having that meal.
“A lot of my regulars don’t necessarily prioritise their nutrition. For a meal, they’ll buy chips from the takeaway on their way home from the pub. The free meal they get here is often the only good meal they’ll have that week.”
There’s also happy hour, from 121pm and also 6-7pm, as the midday happy hour (which used to be for two hours) saw the workers missing out. “Originally it was for retired people and those who didn’t work, but I wanted to reward customers who were at work all day. I give them 50p off a pint, but 80p off Fosters, which takes it down to £2 a pint,” she says.
And Justine’s success with social media has expanded into podcasts, with a recent one featuring a book signing with the author of Claret Pals, about a group of Burnley football supporters.
The pub has 11,000 followers on Facebook, 4,000 on Twitter, 2,000 on Instagram and over 200,000 likes on TikTok. “I’ve had great fun with TikTok. We started after Covid, to bring some cheer to people, with jokes and videos.”
There’s also a really good team supporting Justine at The Royal Dyche. Matt and Kae-Lei, who have attained their Personal Licence, Jordan (who is about to take his) and John, are her core team, and Justine grabs every opportunity for them, when it comes to new experiences and training. “The BII award has really opened up new opportunities. We get invited along to events now, and Hospitality Rewards has provided some really nice perks for them.”
Looking ahead, Justine says the biggest challenge is outgoings. “There’s got to be a point when bills stop increasing on the level that they have been. We need more support from the Government.” She adds: “I’ve made huge investments in my outdoor areas and it is so frustrating to hear that the hospitality industry may receive another blow… [a smoking ban]. It will just become another source of conflict between customers and staff. Who will police it? It’s absurd!”
An active member of the local Pubwatch scheme, Justine recently met up with the new Burnley MP, Oliver Ryan, and the Police & Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Clive Grunshaw to discuss local issues. “The biggest challenge we have in Burnley is the shoplifters and the drug use on the streets.” Burnley Council secured over £19 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to support improvements in the area. “Millions was spent in the town centre, but people are sitting around, drinking cans on the street and stealing to get money for drugs. It has been just one big waste of money. In fact, these people are now sitting on a nicer, wider pavement than before, which is frustrating, but hopefully it’s something that we can get under control and change.”
As she contemplates the year ahead, as an award winner and industry ambassador, she says: “Our industry is so important. We have a duty of care to our communities to provide a safe and welcoming space, where people can create memories, enjoy a drink and a meal. It’s so important and it’s priceless.”
