Pictured: Martin Breen, owner of the Hairy Lemon chain of pubs

The Hairy Lemon, the West Midlands' newest pub chain, is well and truly bucking the trend of struggling boozers, with preparations under way to open more venues in the region, adding even more jobs to the 30 already created in less than nine months.

Owner Martin Breen said even he has been surprised by how well the new pubs have been welcomed, and admitted initially, the idea had been to open one pub in Sutton in February this year.

But the success of the brand led to three more being added, in Erdington in March, and at Woodgate Valley and at The Square Shopping Centre in the city in June. 

A further two are planned in Wolverhampton and Walsall within the new few months, along with adding a Bitter End -  a sophisticated, chilled-out  bar - to the Hairy Lemon at Erdington

"We had just planned the one in Sutton, but then we met Lisa from Kancho, who did all the interior design, and it was so popular, we thought we'd try it out in other places, and thankfully, it's really worked," explained Mr Breen.

He puts the success down to the clever design and branding and choice of venues, choosing places in high streets, rather than communities, which have remained comparatively busy even during the recession.

The venues all serve food, have live music at weekends, and appeal to a wide audience, especially those with the Bitter End bars.

Designer Lisa Kavanagh-Taylor, director of Kancho Creative, the graphic and interior design business who have worked alongside the Hairy Lemon owners on brand and interior design, said the quirky name certainly draws attention, and the interiors have been met with rave reviews.

The name comes from an infamous pub in Dublin called the Hairy Lemon, in honour of a heavily-bearded drinker whose jaundice left him yellow-coloured. Martin loved the story, and decided to use the name for his own pubs.

"We thought long and hard and came up with lots of ideas when putting the brand together," explained Mrs Kavanagh-Taylor.

"We wanted it simple, classic but fashionable at the same time. It needed to be accessible to a wide market , and to be engaging with a tongue in cheek sense of humour.

"Each of the venues that Martin has selected already had catchment and regular patrons. The rebrand of each venue has opened it up to a wider audience."

Mr Breen admitted that key to the continuing success of the chain is ensuring that the new audiences at each venue become regular users of The Hairy Lemon.

"We are hoping to open in Wolverhampton before the end of the year, and are negotiating in Walsall at the moment, but after that, we want to consolidate what we have before looking at our next goal.

"Everything has happened pretty quickly - we want to take stock, look at what we have and make it even better,  improve the brand even more if we can, and then plan from there."