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QF Focus Magazine
Pat focuses on the faces behind our Local Businesses Joanne Savage-Doyle - Harry's Bar Quesada
Originally from Cambridge, Joanne's parents took over the bar in 1986, when Joanne, her mum Gill and sister Samantha came over to get the bar up and running while dad Harry stayed in the UK to finalise the handing over of the pub they had sold there. So as Joanne was literally raised in a pub, it was almost fate that she would end up running the family bar in Quesada, and that's where she met her husband also called Harry.
Joanne stayed in Spain with her family for 2 years before returning to the UK, where she had her daughter Linzi before returning in 1999 and staying for another 10 years. She met Harry in 2001 shortly after he had moved here with his mum. Whenever Joanne came to visit her family, she would always end up helping her parents in the bar, but sadly they both passed away in February and June of 2007. This was a very sad time for Joanne but she took over the running of the bar for a while until leasing it out for 6 years. In November 2013, Joanne and Harry took back the running of the bar and had the hard task of building up their customers again, and there are now certain people, and they know who they are, who Joanne would like to ban permanently, she says jokingly!
Poor Harry had never pulled a pint in his life until this point, but you would never know it as he
looks so at home happily working behind the bar now (and as he is so nice we will forgive him for being an Arsenal fan because every team deserves to have at least one fan!). Joanne also employs 8 other people, so they can have some well deserved time off. Joanne had previously worked for BT and was also a 'Hobby Bobby' on the beat (a specials volunteer) and then trained as a carer, which she really loved doing. She has worked really hard to make the bar a very friendly and inviting place where people don't just come for drinks or to sample the varied menus on offer, like full breakfasts, lunch, evening meals and Sunday roasts, but also a place where people go to meet up with friends for a good old natter and to put the world to rights. Private functions are also very popular and in the summer the adjacent municipal pool is ideal for a cooling dip between drinks! Joanne is a great supporter of charities and has various collection tins on the bar, but her main one is Reach Out which cares, feeds and clothes local homeless people, so the bar is a drop off point for anything suitable for the charity. She has run the Great North Run marathon twice, raising money for Alzheimer's and Epilepsy.
Joanne and Harry now have a new addition to the family in the shape of a 6 month old, 32 kilo Rottweiler named Zeus! A party is being organised for Saturday 24th September to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of her family owning the bar. What a great success story, her mum and dad would be so proud of her.
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