Keith's owner to reopen historic Liverpool pub closed for more than a decade

A legendary Liverpool bar owner is planning to reopen a historic city pub that has been closed for over a decade. Keith Haggis, the owner of the famous Keith's Wine Bar on Lark Lane, is planning to reopen The Belgrave Hotel pub on Bryanston Road in the St Michaels area of south Liverpool.

The Belgrave has remained tinned up since it closed in 2011 after a brutal gangland murder took place outside its front door in the same year. The eye-catching red-brick building is now set to reopen to punters next summer after work to restore it began.

Mr Haggis spoke exclusively to the ECHO about his plans for the pub, which he has owned for several years and has previously attempted to refurbish. Workers have been seen going in and out in recent weeks as the inside of the pub is being ripped out and replaced, while hotel bedrooms are being created above.

The Keith's owner previously secured planning permission to restore and refurbish the building and for a single-storey extension to its side and rear, but while work began, the plans were halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Haggis told the ECHO: "I didn't just want to reopen it as it was, with all of its recent history, but I didn't realise just how much it would cost and it took a while to decide how it was going to be. I got planning permission and we did actually start the work - but this was just before the start of covid and then there was no building work allowed for a time. The builders pulled out in the end. I wanted to get it going again but no one was lending any money to hospitality and then all the costs for everything rocketed.

"I didn't want to water down what I wanted to do, so it dragged on a bit. Now we have got to a stage where I have managed to get the finance sorted and get work started with a different builder. It is a long job to finish the whole thing off."

Speaking about his vision for the pub, he added: "I have lived around here for the last 30-odd years and I always liked the idea that this was the pub for St Michaels-in-the-Hamlet, the local, little community pub.

"I was sad to see what happened to it and then it closed and I had always fancied running it and making it a really nice, community pub. When it closed down I was lucky enough to be able to buy it. We want it to be a local pub for local people.

"The plan for upstairs is to make nice hotel bedrooms. There are student halls of residence around the corner and they have family come over to visit them. So this would be somewhere for them to stay. It is also just 200m from St Michaels Station which can take people on to Anfield, to Aintree and the city centre."

He is keen for the pub to get a new lease of life and to move on from the violence which caused it to close. The Belgrave has remained closed since 44-year-old Bahman Faraji was shot dead from point-blank range after being lured out of the front of the pub in February 2011.

It is believed Faraji - nicknamed Batman and with a reputation for “taxing” drug dealers - was killed over an alleged underworld fallout. The hit was orchestrated by Jason Gabbana, who ordered drug dealer Simon Smart to make arrangements for the murder, eventually carried out by Dingle dad Edward Heffey. All three were sentenced to life behind bars for plotting and carrying out the execution of the Liverpool doorman.

Perhaps one of the most astonishing details of the case was the part played by former Brookside actor Brian Regan, who acted as an unwitting getaway driver. Regan, who played Terry Sullivan in the city-based soap for 14 years, was cleared of murder after a jury believed he was being used as a "pawn in a game he didn't even know he was playing."

More than 13 years on from those grim scenes, Mr Haggis says The Belgrave is set for a new lease of life and he wants it to be a place that local people are proud of. He said the reception from those living nearby has been very positive.

He said: "The neighbours seem happy, the reaction has all been very positive. There was only one or two people who were against it. Quite a few of the residents lived here when it was open as a pub and they seem happy it is reopening."

As the pub is nestled in a residential area, he expects it to open until around 11pm on weeknights and until midnight on weekends. These details will be determined at a council licensing meeting closer to its reopening date.

On timescales, he added: "I can't say when it will definitely be finished, but the idea is that it will be open next summer. I think it could be July, but anything can happen. There could be issues we find that add cost and add time."