Familiar faces take on The New Inn

February 9, 2026

Rich & Sam Grant, new business owners at The New Inn in Kidmore End, are no strangers to Brakspear; this is their third pub, after successfully running The Malsters Arms in Rotherfield Greys and before that The Refomation at Gallowstree Common.

Together, their career with Brakspear goes back to 2012, when they moved into The Reformation.  Rich is a talented chef who has worked in hospitality for three decades, and is a third generation landlord, following his parents, who ran The Red Lion in Peppard for many years and his grandfather, a landlord on the Old Kent Road. As he says, “running pubs is in my blood.”

At The Reformation, which they ran for six years, Rich & Sam turned around the fortunes of the village pub, taking it to No.1 on Tripadvisor for places to eat in Reading, and picking up Brakspear’s Best Sunday Roast Award in 2017.

In autumn 2024, Rich & Sam took on The Maltsters Arms, re-establishing business there and building up its food trade. Then, late last year, The New Inn became available, a pub that the couple knew well and were happy to take on.

They have lost no time in putting their mark on the pub, and putting the pub back on the map. Since taking the keys in November, they have traded successfully through Christmas and New Year, launched a new menu and staged an Open Mic night. They use social media effectively to promote what’s happening in the pub – including Rich’s Scotch Egg menu for the Six Nations!

We wish Rich & Sam the best of luck at The New Inn – though we don’t think they’re going to need it!