Entire family rally together to make pub delivery service

A family of six have rallied together to create a food delivery service out of their pub in Stoke Ash for residents during lockdown.

After closing the White Horse Inn back in March, all members of the Cronin-Aldridge family have chipped in to create a takeaway service providing pub meals – from dad Shane to even his seven-year-old daughter Annie.

The pub on Ipswich Road – which was forced to place all 42 of its staff on furlough when lockdown began – has proven an invaluable asset to residents in the area, with the family taking in more than 500 orders a week.

Mr Aldridge said: “As soon as we closed, we immediately started doing takeaways.

“We put them out at a collection point and people would ring up to come and pick them up.

“We’re not profiting from it – we have a mortgage to pay, so all we’re trying to do is keep the business ticking.”

The effort has seen all six members of the family pull together to help out; 18-year-old Jack has been working tirelessly alongside his dad in the kitchen, mum Anne, 42, and eldest daughter Ebony, 20, have been taking orders on the phone, and even youngsters Harry, 10, and Annie pitch in by preparing the packaging for the food to go out in.

Mr Aldridge said: “It’s been nice to get back to the basics. In many ways it’s like we’ve gone back to the start, when it was just us.

“Me and my son have been working side by side in the kitchen. He’d just started working in the kitchen before this happened so it’s been a bit of a baptism of fire.

“The little ones are folding up the fish and chip boxes, and it’s nice for them to have something to do so they are not just glued to the TV.

“I’m very proud of what they have all done, because it’s really helped the family.

“This pub is a very special place for us and a really important part of our family make up – I’ve lived her for 20 years – and I worked here as a pot washer when I was 15, when my dad was a chef here, and Harry and Annie were actually born in the pub, so for our children it’s all they know.”