THE Landlady of the Basingstoke Gazette Pub of the Year has thanked her customers and team for their support and described her stint behind the bar as "a life changer."
Laura Kent, 37, from Basingstoke, took the reigns of The Rising Sun on Chapel Hill, just five months ago.
In her short time as governor, readers of the Basingstoke Gazette and Andover Advertiser have recognised her work and voted The Rising Sun as Pub of the Year 2024.
A tremendous feat, in such a short space of time, Laura told the Gazette that she couldn't believe it at first.
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Laura explained how she has established a playful rapport with her regular punters, she said: "We have good banter with our customers, we abuse our regulars and they keep coming back for it.
"We've only been here 5 months now and we're already pretty much just a big family.
"To vote us as Pub of the Year - They clearly just like being abused, don't they?"
Known for live music, open mic and DJ nights, The Rising Sun is a popular spot for those in the town who want to let their hair down on a Friday night.
Laura said: "I have a friend who is in the music business, so what we try and do is keep the community spirit, having local people in so they can get seen and heard."
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This is the first gig as a landlady for Laura, who most recently spent two years working at the King of Wessex.
She plans to open up the kitchen and bring her much-requested roast dinners, which her regulars have eagerly been anticipating, to The Rising Sun.
She said: "We're going to open the kitchen in a few weeks.
"I was working in the King of Wessex before for just over two years, I was very well known down there for doing my roast dinners.
"I hear nothing but roast dinners in this place, it actually drives me mad sometimes, I think they'll be happy once we actually get the roasts banging out."
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Laura added: "We're quite well known for our ales, we have some regular ale connoisseurs visit us."
Charlotte Finegan, 25, is the manager at the pub. She said: "I worked here before Laura took over, and the change in the pub is so weird to see, we've got the same customers but they're just happier, they're here more and they take part in the raffles."
The Rising Sun holds a regular meat raffle on Sundays, which people come from all over the town to participate in.
There are a number of other events planned for the pub over the coming weeks.
Charlotte said: "For the Euros, we're doing a barbecue with the big TV outside - if the weather is good.
"We're going to start doing quizzes during the week but we're waiting for the Euros to finish before we start them."
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Laura added: "Because it's been so busy during the week, trying to get stuff organised is quite hard, we're pretty much busy all the time.
"We have karaoke on the first Friday of every month and DJs, occasionally, which is mental. We do love our DJ nights.
"We're also redecorating over the next few weeks, and hopefully getting the sign outside fixed."
Laura told the Gazette how working is The Rising Sun has been a life changer: "My mum died three years ago so it's been a tough few years, it's brought me back to life a little bit more.
She added: "A massive thank you to everyone who supported us, for becoming family, they do make the pub what it is at the end of the day.
"A massive thank you to my team who are awesome, absolutely awesome."
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