It's monkey business for Shropshire manhole manufacturer
There's a monkey puzzle currently on offer to customers at Shrewsbury's latest theme bar – and it's not a tree.
The Libertine Cocktail Bar and Tea Room opened in Butcher Row in June and now boasts an unusual pub sign outside – a long-tailed monkey made from steel.
The sign was the idea of bar owner Sam Taylor and was created in just two minutes and 30 seconds by leading county manufacturer Fabweld Steel Products of Telford.
Sam said: “All the customers ask about the monkey hanging outside, it's got a lot of people puzzled. The name of the bar came from from the Johnny Depp movie 'The Libertine' – which tells the story of John Wilmot, a 17th century poet and rebel who drank his way to an early death but was posthumously acclaimed for his work.
“And the idea for the monkey came from a painting of Wilmot in the National Portrait Gallery. He was painted by Hans Holbein with his pet monkey and the portrait gave me the inspiration when I was thinking about a sign for The Libertine.”
Designers at Fabweld Steel Products, in Madeley, created the monkey sign out of 4mm mild steel.
Sales manager John Tudor said: “We're known throughout the industry for our manhole covers and drainage equipment, but we have the design and manufacturing capability to create almost anything of metal.
“Being asked to create a monkey is probably one of the most unusual requests, but we were delighted to be able to help Sam.”
Earlier this year Fabweld Steel Products invested £250,000 in a state-of-the-art laser cutting machinery which was used to plot out the monkey's dimensions, before being cut from a single sheet of steel in two minutes and three seconds.
John added: “We have a Sign Shop and our in-house designers can take a drawing and turn it into a professionally produced badge, plate or sign in a very short time. We can add the customer's design of messages or logos too. The monkey is the strangest one we've done so far I think but it does work for such an innovative theme bar.”
Sam said: “Fabweld came up with the best design in the right material which will fit in with the décor at the right price. I wanted to use a local company and one that offered a quick production and delivery time. I'm very pleased with it and it fits in with our plan to be out of the ordinary.
“Libertines didn't stick to the rules and nor does my bar. We serve cocktails in tea cups or even jam jars and my idea is just always to do things differently.”
