AN award-winning family ran Windermere pub has found great success by following a very unique business philosophy.

The Crafty Baa, located on Victoria Street, had previously been named as the North West’s best pub at the prestigious ‘rural Oscars’ awards.

It also recently hosted an evening with the popular Cumbrian band the Thieving Magpies.

During lockdown, pub owners Vince Gregg, along with his wife Lisa and son Ben, opened another pub in Keswick.

Vince and Lisa have been together for 31 years and have built a successful business together.

Vince said: “The whole journey for us began in 2016 when we opened the bar. The one we opened in Keswick was opened last year in 2020.

“For the future we are looking to open the smallest pub in the Lake District. So small we want it to have its own postcode.

“For this business we put in three years research to find out what others were doing, and we found everyone was copying everyone else.

“We don’t copy others. Everything we do is the opposite to everyone else. It makes it more fun.

“We use recycled materials that others discard. For example, when the Royal Oak replaced all its furniture, we began our set up with what they didn’t want.

“We grew from there. Anything others don’t want we use to grow our business.

“We’ve got things from pubs local to us and even some from Grasmere.

“Our ceiling is also used as a place for lost property. If someone loses something we put it on the ceiling for them to collect when they come back.

“Now some people are leaving things on purpose so we can get them up there.

“My son Ben runs the Keswick pub, while myself and Lisa run the Windermere pub.”