'We took over a pub and brought the touch of class of an uptown club to our area'
After lots of hard work, David Blanchard believes he has brought his area something it's never had before. A builder by trade, David took over large pub The Red Lion on Bridge Road in Litherland three years ago, working with his sister.
They decided they wanted to make a big change to the venue. Explaining that process, David, from Bootle, told the ECHO: "We got it by chance, to be fair. My sister has been in the pub game for a long time and she got offered the venue but she couldn't really do it on her own, so she asked for my help.
"I said I would help out, it would be something good to work on for the future. It was something exciting to look forward to.
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"I asked a very good friend of mine, so it's me and my friend Jordan Mossman that now run it as co-owners. My sister, about six months in, started getting health issues and wanted to step back.
"We hadn't done anything like this before. I'd always said with my sister that we wanted to work on something. So when it came about, we definitely wanted to do it. We all grew up in that area, so it felt right to take it on."
The pub has been scaled down in size and the majority of the site is now home to The Blossom Lounge - a function room for parties and events - which has been open since July. It is the product of three years of hard work from David.
He said: "I'm a builder by trade. Most of the work in there I've done myself - I've been doing it of a night after work. I was staying nights and doing weekends, then I was going in with my friends from the trade and a lot of them helped me out as well.
"The work has taken it that long because we haven't had the money to get people in. I do that type of stuff, I've done it bit by bit.
"We thought that people wouldn't want to go and book a wedding or a christening or a big milestone birthday at The Red Lion. They would want to go somewhere classy, maybe into town - a nice function room out the way.
"We've brought that bit of class from town to a local community area. There's nothing around this area like it.
"It's taken us three years to get to where we are now. It's been open since July and parties and bookings are picking up - we've got that facility right on people's doorstep now."
The pub side of the venue now acts as a sports bar, keeping things busy day-to-day. But it is The Blossom Lounge that David believes is the main draw now.
He explained: "The Red Lion ticks over - it does what it does. It's a very small venue now we've sectioned it off to just one room. It's got a pool table, Sky Sports, you can watch the football and the racing - it's a tiny sports bar basically.
"It does enough to keep the regulars in, everyone knows each other, it's a friendly pub. Then you've got the luxury function room. So it's a contrast - you've got a cosy little pub but then you go next door and you've got the luxury and class.
"The comfort of what we've done and the interior is the best thing about it. We went above and beyond - we've brought a touch of class from an uptown club in town and brought it to the middle of Seaforth and Litherland. Our prices are good prices, but you're in a luxury function room.
"There are nice warm colours, the greenery, the blossoms. It's that extra touch of class."