A NEW bar owner took advantage of the thousands of fundraisers on North Hill with a partial May Day opening.

Karen Mole officially launches The Haunt bar, housed within a Grade II listed building on the same street, in two weeks time.

But the 42-year-old saw an opportunity to get people through the door for a preview of what is to come – a relaxed lounge, which will flit between being a student chill-out spot by day and a grown up’s haven by night.

The bar has a large Jacobean fireplace, comfortable armchairs, music and promises an informal atmosphere. These are all elements she had dreamt up after leaving her job of 14-years in promotions and marketing at the Gazette last November, where she taught other businesses how to sell themselves.

The mum-of-two teenage girls said it was a massive leap but she could not be more excited.

She said: “It was a soft opening but I thought it’d be a massive missed opportunity if I didn’t when there’s a potential 5,000 people stood right outside. It was more about promoting rather than selling so the bar was open for people to sample, but we didn’t have any food on.

“I wanted people to come in have a chat, look around and get a feel for the place.”

She added: “Opening the business was something my partner and I had talked about doing. My previous role involved telling businesses how to market and get people through the doors, so I thought rather than telling, I should be doing it myself.

“In the lead up I questioned whether I really wanted to do this and how I would do it, but I looked at this place, which is an old restaurant, and thought it’s much better as a bar. There are lots of fine dining on North Hill but nowhere to go for a drink.

“No one had tapped into the building’s heritage, which is what my partner Richard and I are doing. We’d like to embrace and look after it.”