Carpenter James Gannon, left, and Birregurra Royal Mail Hotel’s new manager Grant Hickey.

THE new manager of Birregurra’s Royal Mail Hotel says he is nearly ready to reopen the pub after a two-month closure.

Grant Hickey said he hoped to relaunch the pub by the end of next week.

The pub has been closed since mid June, with the building’s owners evicting the previous licensee, reclaiming the liquor licence and appointing Mr Hickey as manager.

Mr Hickey said Colac district tradesmen Mathew Silvey, Daryl Selvidge, James Gannon and Sandy Maxwell were completing a makeover in the pub to brighten up the dining room.

“The dining room’s getting a bit of a makeover, the place is being replumbed underneath, getting everything up to scratch,” he said.

“The sewerage’s getting connected to the main that’s been completed in Birregurra.

“All these boys are local guys, they’ve all dropped what they’ve got on and given us a hand.

“It’s pretty hard to get tradesmen on short notice and they’ve given as much as they can which is great.”

Mr Hickey said he and the tradesmen were working as quickly as possible to reopen the business.

“We want to try to get everything right,” he said.

Tags: Birregurra, Business