A pub is preparing to open its doors to the public after undergoing a refurbishment.

The Yard in Brook Street, Ilkley, has been taken over by local couple Lawrence Doyle and Kezia Bellamy (pictured) who have transformed it into a premium sports bar called Hub-Vybe in the hope it will become a social hub for the town.

The venue’s transformation includes new booth seating, hand-made furniture, by Lawrence and Kezia themselves, a brand new bar design and state of the art new audio-visual equipment and screens, designed to heighten the ‘sports’ experience and atmosphere of the bar.

The pub will show all major sporting events on both Sky Sports and BT Sports and serve food such as tacos, burritos, wings, burgers and dirty fries. Drinks will include craft beers, gins, wines, cocktails, slushies and shakes. Other entertainment will include pool, shuffleboard, beer pong, soft tip darts, bingo and pub quiz nights.

Lawrence and Kezia met seven years ago whilst working in a bar in Liverpool and until recently were general manager and assistant general manager at The Ticket Office in Ilkley.

Kezia said: “We decided on the name ‘Hub-Vybe’ because we want to become the social ‘Hub’ of Ilkley.

“The second part of our plans will focus on an exclusive cocktail bar using the venues upstairs space and capitalising on Lawrence’s mixology experience, that will have a different ‘Vibe’ to downstairs. Hence the name.

“We have watched the Ilkley bar scene change considerably in the time we have been here and noticed a gap in the market for a premium sports bar. We felt The Yard fitted the model fantastically well and jumped at the chance to snap up the venue.”

The couple have a vision to open multiple sites over the next five years with a core team that are invested from the beginning, and through training will become part of the ‘Hub’ family.

Lawrence added: “We’re really excited to be undertaking our very own project and our first business together.

“After a month of hard work, we cannot wait to be open and show everyone the fantastic results”

Hub-Vybe opens to he public on Friday, January 31from 7pm. The venue will continue to open until 3am on a weekend with a brand-new DJ system and resident DJs Jack City and James Oliver.