FEATURE
WORDS: DAVE ROBSON PICTURES: TOM BANKS
A BOLD NEW LOOK
Total refurb- and stunning mural- marks new chapter in The Dickens story
New era- Jack Spensley at the Dickens Inn.
A
legendary bar is embarking on an exciting new era with a new look, inside and out.
Since 1993, The Dickens Inn on Southfield Road, Middlesbrough, has been a mainstay of Teesside’ s social scene. The brainchild of Tony and Julie Spensley, and with a name originally inspired by The Dickens Inn near London’ s Tower Bridge, the iconic town centre bar rapidly became a big part of town life- so much so that few nights out in Boro were complete without popping into the Dickens and its offshoot, Dickens 2.
It became a popular haunt for Boro players too, with impromptu promotion parties held after the successful 1995 and 2016 campaigns.
It’ s gone down in folklore how, when Bryan Robson’ s men won promotion in 1995, striker John Hendrie called The Dickens, said they’ d be down after training – and sure enough, the party continued all day and into the night.
And after Aitor Karanka’ s team won promotion to the top flight in 2016, defender Ben Gibson led the lads down to The Dickens and another day of celebration ensued.
Even former Boro striker Jordan Hugill once worked behind the bar.
Now, with Tony and Julie’ s son Jack at the helm and Newcastle firm Dakota House of Design drawing up the plans, the much-loved Dickens has undergone a huge transformation.
Inside, there’ s a whole new look, with the main bar ripped out and replaced, and everything from the main entrance, coffee bar and cocktail bar to the kitchen, toilets and even the stairs completely refreshed and revamped.
After a few years away, Sky Sports has been reinstated, complete with four big screens and a huge projector TV, 30 new TVs( they used to have three) and a highclass sound system.
There’ s also an interactive games room with dartboards and pool, a focus on live music and new food offerings, with a tasty pizza menu crafted by chef Alberto already going down well.
And outside, the main building’ s plain white external walls have been replaced with an eye-catching, floor-to-roof mural featuring much-loved Teesside landmarks, including the Transporter Bridge, Roseberry Topping and the old Middlesbrough Town Hall.
The colourful mural- skilfully designed and installed by freelance street artist Glen Malpass- also includes nods to one of the world’ s most iconic breweries after Guinness agreed The Dickens could be one of its flagship bars. There’ s even a self-pour Guinness machine in the revamped and remodelled games room.
Massive changes, therefore, to keep The Dickens relevant and vibrant in 2026.
As we sit in the shadow of the amazing mural, Jack told Tees Business:“ From front door to back, we’ ve ripped everything out and given the place a whole new look.
“ I’ m the one who’ s here day in day out, so I see it, I talk to people and I get the feedback, positive and negative. It’ s that sort of feedback, and doing some factfinding ourselves, which helped us decide what we wanted to do.
“ I’ ve been here 10 years and we’ ve never done anything to this extent. But the industry has changed so much and if you don’ t adapt and change with it, you get left behind.
“ I was determined that wasn’ t going to happen so we sat down in January and asked‘ what are we happy and unhappy with, and what needs to change’?”
The external wall mural, he says, has had the desired impact.
Jack said:“ I see people walking past with their gaze locked onto the building. It’ s become a focal point, whereas before the white building probably got a bit lost in this university campus. Now it stands out.”
Ten extra staff have been taken on, bringing the overall number to around 40.
And with word spreading by word-ofmouth and on social media about the new-look Dickens, Jack’ s confident this iconic Teesside venue is well-placed for future success.
He said:“ Internally, it’ s effectively a new place. Sometimes I’ ll be sat with a group of friends and I hear people come in and say‘ this looks fantastic’.
“ Previously, people might come in, have a drink and move on. Now, people come and stay because there’ s so much going on and the place looks so good.”
Fresh look – inside the Dickens Inn. The voice of business in the Tees region | 117