The Rock in Weymouth prepares to reopen its doors

Husband and wife team Mark and Lisa Stanley are taking over The Rock on Abbotsbury Road and are set to reopen the premises as a pub once again on Saturday, March 30, with a soft launch on Friday, March 29.

Lisa said: “We have been super busy over the last couple of weeks making The Rock look amazing and we are very excited to welcome everyone on Friday from noon onwards.

“We have live music from Moon Dog at 8pm on Saturday and karaoke with Nicola Record from 4pm on Easter Sunday."

SAMBÔ, a Brazilian all-you-can-eat restaurant (Rodizio), was the last business to reside at The Rock, taking over the premises in 2019 and moving out in October 2023 to take up a seafront position.

The premises has been empty since then and the new owners have started to breathe new life into the business, with plans a for a traditional-style family pub.

Lisa explained that ‘everything has been going well’ and that the family is ‘ready for the opening on Friday.’

They have undertaken some major work and one more noticeable feature is the beautiful and fully stocked wooden bar, welcoming revellers as they walk through the doors.

The new bar area (Image: The Rock)

The couple have never worked in the pub trade themselves, but Mark’s parents used to run pubs and clubs in London.

He said: “My dad always promised that I would get a pub and unfortunately he died before we could do that.”

Lisa added: “It’s something that we have been thinking about for quite a while and then this place came up, so we inquired and here we are.”

The couple have three children, Caitlin, 20, Jack, 18 and Mason 11.

The Stanley family (Image: Hollie Carr)

Teaching Assistant Lisa, 44, currently works at Wyke Regis Infant School and Nursery and plans to continue working there part time whilst the pub gets established

Mark, 52, was a former maintenance manager at a Weymouth hotel and is set to take over the day to day running of the pub.

At present, there will be no food served, but this is something that the family are looking into for the future as there is a kitchen on the premises which has been stripped out.

The pub will have a ‘family and dog friendly atmosphere,’ and the perfect place for the family’s eight-year-old Bassett Hound Marley to relax.

Lisa said: “It will have a lovely relaxing atmosphere, TNT sports, live music every Saturday, a resident karaoke, as well as quiz nights."