‘Friendly staff most of the time’: Pub celebrates its worst reviews
Garvan Hickey, the landlord of The Drapers Arms, gave the go-ahead for three students to create the poster - Tom Wren/SWNS
A pub has unveiled an advertising billboard to celebrate its worst reviews.
The Drapers Arms in Bristol is using the large sign to attract customers by using negative comments from Google reviewers such as “great food if you like crisps” and “friendly staff most of the time”.
The poster shows genuine Google reviews in a beer mat form with one saying: “Excellent. But not last night”.
Another read: “Friendly staff most of the time.”
The board was created by three graphic design students at the University of West England who drink at the micropub.
‘I know beer, these students know graphic design’, says Garvan Hickey, the landlord of The Drapers Arms - Tom Wren/SWNS
Garvan Hickey, the pub’s landlord, was “sceptical” about the idea at first but said the students won him over with their enthusiasm.
He said: “When they first told me about their billboard idea, I was very sceptical.
‘‘I thought these big posters were for promoting fast food chains and high fashion retailers – not printing bad reviews for a backstreet micropub.
“We normally get great customer feedback anyway but when these guys ... assured me that a mixture of negative and positive reviews could well be a real advantage – I was not convinced.
“Comments like, ‘Normally excellent – but not last night’ and ‘Friendly staff; most of the time’ might well be genuine reviews but they’re certainly not typical.
“However, I know about beer, these students know about graphic design and marketing – and the finished article looks great.”
Skye Hutton-Attenborough said the three students loved drinking at The Drapers Arms so much they used it for their coursework - Tom Wren/SWNS
Skye Hutton-Attenborough, Rhys Lewis and Will Vaughan, the students behind the poster, were given a brief to identify a local company and come up with ideas to rebrand their business.
After being given the go-ahead by Mr Hickey the students reproduced four genuine Google reviews – both positive and negative – in a beer mat form, on the poster.
The billboard is located on Rudthorpe Road just 40 yards from the pub.
Despite showcasing the negative reviews, The Drapers Arms has a 4.8-star rating on Google Reviews and was runner-up in the Bristol and District Campaign for Real Ale Pub of the Year 2025.
Mr Hickey said he was looking forward to seeing whether it would lead to an uptick in business.
He added: “They assured me people will appreciate it is all tongue-in-cheek, so, I was persuaded to give it a go.
“Customers now love it and are now having their photo taken with the billboard – we will all now wait and see the actual results.”
Garvan Hickey said ‘customers now love’ the poster - Tom Wren/SWNS
Ms Hutton-Attenborough, 22, said that because they enjoyed socialising in the micropub so much they decided to focus their university project on it.
She added: “As part of our coursework last year we were given a brief, to work in a group of three, to identify a local company and come up with ideas to rebrand their business to help improve its overall performance.”
The Drapers Arms, Bristol’s first micropub, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
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