Wigan entrepreneur brothers celebrate first year of their sports bar

University students Bradd and Lucas Parfitt actually started Andertons, based on Anderton Street in Ince, during lockdown in 2020.

Despite sharing a name with the street on which it is based, the business was named after their grandparents Helen and Norman Anderton.

When Bradd's martial arts business fell apart during the pandemic, leaving him without money to pay his rent, he decided to open a closed food kitchen with his brother Lucas.

The brothers said: “Maxing out our 33 per cent interest personal credit cards, we bought used equipment and started a ‘dark kitchen’.

“Our thinking behind this was to create something during the lockdown that people looked forward to and also needed while they struggled to get out of the house.

“It was very risky, but it paid off.”

The business began to achieve growth after it launched on the Just Eat app, which saw them making £5,000 a week at the age of 20.

They both dropped out of their university courses and decided to pursue the venture full-time.

But realising that lockdown would not last forever, they set out to find a new location so people could dine in.

In May last year they took out a lease for their current premises, even though it had a poor track record of failing businesses, and set themselves up for Euro 2021.

Andertons officially launched last June, but after struggling to get customers in, the brothers rebranded it as a sports bar and sponsored Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Ben Amos.

Bradd, 22, said: “We had the vision of building for a community and experience that needed a dedicated bar.

"Lucas has a huge passion for Latics, so we jumped at the chance to sponsor a player and then it went from there.”

They said: “Once we bought SkySports and BT Sport in conjunction with the Latics deal, we saw a massive change in fans coming to the bar for the ‘ultimate matchday experience’.

“As of April 2022 we are proud to be a partner of Wigan Athletic.

“Thanks to all the customers for their support.

“We have plans to expand in the future and hopefully be a part of bringing Wigan town centre back to its former glory.”