AN INDEPENDENT brewer and a street food company believe they can turn a "sleeping giant" pub into a hit destination that will thrive in the 21st century.

The Harry in London Road is being reinvented as the Legra Tap and Kitchen when it opens in June after refurbishment.

A joint venture by the Leigh on Sea Brewing Company and Black Circus Food will take over the premises, creating a pub serving local and independent beers, plus street market food on offer from the kitchen.

Having already worked together in the Sea Brewing Company's bar in Progress Road , the two organisations saw the pub as a chance to bring modern London-style cuisine and drinking to the predominately residential area.

Echo: The pub will offer street food from street market vendor Black Circus FoodThe pub will offer street food from street market vendor Black Circus Food

Ian Rydings, a 62-year-old former housing and property employee at Thurrock Council who founded the Sea Brewing Company with wife Gabby in 2017, said it was a sign the hospitality industry was bouncing back after a difficult couple of years due to the Covid pandemic.

The Leigh Cliff Road resident said: “It was great to find a pub which has not really stayed with the times - it does drink and sport. We’re right in the community of Leigh and we think of The Harry as a bit of sleeping giant.

“Residents can expect our own beer that’s made two miles away, and there won’t be anything global about it. It will be small breweries from all over the country.”

He added: “The pandemic threatened us incredibly as a brewery as our business was based on selling beer to pubs. Young people are moving from London to Leigh and we think this is the sort of place you won’t find anywhere else.”   

Echo: Luke and Kier set the business up 12 months agoLuke and Kier set the business up 12 months ago  

Rather than the traditional pub grub residents will choose a selection of modern street food like nachos and burgers cooked by the team at Black Circus, co-owned by Benfleet-based Keir Black, 30, and Westcliff resident Luke Circus, 31.

With a background in fine dining before starting their company in 2021 the pair are excited to give Leigh something fresh.

Mr Black said: “We want a more relaxed environment but it’s a little step up from the traditional, old-school pubs.

“We are definitely trying to do something different. We’re trying to bridge that gap in the market and give something a bit unique under one roof.”