The landlord of a celebrated Southampton pub has said he’s happy to be back as the first anniversary of a devastating fire that caused the establishment to close for three months approaches.

An electrical fire caused £30,000 of damage at The Platform Tavern in Town Quay in the early hours of the morning on October 5, 2023.

More than £20,000 was raised through an online fundraiser and benefit gigs held around the city, enabling the pub, which dates back to 1873, to fully reopen in January.

One year on from the blaze that nearly closed the Platform Tavern for good, landlord Stewart Cross said: “We’re happy to be back, the customers are happy, I can’t thank the people who donated enough really, they are the reason we were able to open again.

“It was strange when we reopened because we’d been closed for three months leading up to Christmas.

“January, February, and March are our quieter months, but we found we were quite busy, and people had missed not being able to see us, which was nice.

“It was a difficult period being closed, especially given the circumstances as it was outside of everyone’s control.”

A sign thanking customers inside the Platform Tavern after money raised through fundraising allowed the pub to reopen this year (Image: Matt Davey) READ MORE: New bar and restaurant set to open on Shirley Road

He added: “When we didn’t get the insurance pay out it seemed like that would be a crucial factor as to whether we would reopen or not, but we had such a good response to the crowd fundraisers and that made us realise that we could reopen.”

The 62-year-old has been landlord of the Platform Tavern for 27 years, and in that time has promoted live music acts, ranging from local to international.

This weekend the pub will be one of 60 venues in Southampton hosting Music in the City, an annual celebration of music showcasing musical talent.

“We were one of the original venues,” said Stewart, with Music in the City first debuting in 2008.

“It’s always a good day for us, I think we’ve got seven bands on Saturday and it’s busy for the whole day which gives us a shot in the arm.

“It gets bigger and bigger each year – I think there are more venues than ever, more acts than ever –without fail it’s always our busiest day of the year, we can’t wait.”