The Angus Tap & Grind was opened in 2020 by two friends
13:35, 06 Dec 2025Updated 13:52, 06 Dec 2025
The Angus has been open since August 2020(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
As the clock strikes 5pm and city centre workers finish their last shift of the week, The Angus Tap & Grind pub comes alive as music plays and a loyal army of customers prop up the bar sipping on crisp pints of lager for hours on end.
For years Dan Nicholson and Shaun O’Donnell, 34, have been helping run BOSS Night, an events business that brings Liverpool FC fans together under one roof while listening to the likes of Jamie Webster perform iconic LFC chants. However, amid the popularity of their live events, the friends were eager to pool their expertise and recreate that success elsewhere.
Eager to branch out into their own venues, Dan and Shaun decided to take the leap and open their first pub on 83-85 Dale Street in 2020. Like many successful hospitality concepts, their eagerness to open a venue came from a desire to create the sort of place they felt was lacking.
Shaun told the ECHO: “We basically just wanted to create somewhere we thought that we would like to go to essentially. A nice premium pub is how we would describe it. It’s just somewhere that we would like to go, a nice atmosphere, nice music, somewhere you can go and watch the match.”
Capitalising on their previous experience of hosting live music events, part of their success since opening is thanks, in part, to their relentless commitment to live music. However, one crucial advantage they have over many competitors is their ability to draw some of the biggest names in Liverpool’s music scene.
Shaun said: “One thing that we tried to do is lean on some of the contacts that we have made through having the events business. For example, Jamie Webster’s played there a number of times, John Power’s played there a number of times, so getting big names to play in that small, intimate environment is something that appealed as well.”
The pub has been able to attract to particularly popular scouse singers(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Drawing on another of their passions, the Angus is also somewhere you can watch the football though Shaun was eager to emphasise their commitment to a “premium” offering adding they’re by no means a “sports bar”.
He said: “I think it’s that blend of you know you’re going to get a good pint and you know you’re going to get good music. That consistency of what we do, of what we’ve constantly done for the last five years hasn’t really changed. It’s all been centred around creating a great atmosphere, underpinned by live music and live sports.”
However, like any independently owned pub in the current climate, Dan and Shaun have not been immune from the hurdles and challenges that come with running your own boozer. Shaun added: “It’s massively challenging and probably a lot more challenging than we’d bargained for when we first got involved.”
In fact, the trials and tribulations of running a pub are something they had to acclimatise to from the very first days in business. Shaun said: “For example, we signed our first lease on Dale Street the day before Boris Johnson announced that the whole country would go into lockdown, so that was clearly a big challenge.”
The pub has become a popular stopping off point for Evertonians on matchdays(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Amid the uncertainty that swept the hospitality sector throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, they were able to come through the adversity and, if anything, Shaun believes it made them stronger in the long run.
He said: “We managed to pivot and what we managed to do in between lockdowns when the country was opening up a little bit, was try and benefit from the seating rule. So we had seated gigs, for example, that we did where obviously people couldn’t stand up, people couldn’t come and dance, but they could come and sit and listen to music which I think put us on the map a little bit, because there wasn’t loads of places that you could go to at the time and we were able to be one of them.”
Despite the challenges, the pub continues to go from strength to strength, with Dan and Shaun delighted to have a proud army of regulars who have made The Angus their go-to before heading to the newly opened Hill Dickenson stadium. He said: “We appreciate our customers because it is tough at the moment and every pint that is bought helps and goes towards us being there for the next month, the next year.”
Additionally, the venue has also proved a hit with students from the nearby LMA (Liverpool Media Academy) who, Shaun says, have really taken to the open-mic nights hosted every midweek.
Shaun has been pleased to share the pub with his friends and family in recent years(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
As he casts his mind back over the last five years, he struggles to pick one memory that has stood out from the rest but finally lands on one rather surreal moment a few years ago. He said: “A funny memory was when John Power played a gig and Martin Freeman was in because he had been filming in the city. So, he came in for the gig and he ended up staying and having a drink with the staff and John Power afterwards. It was quite funny to be sat at a table with John Power to the left of me and Martin Freeman to the right.”
On a personal level, Shaun is proud to share the pub’s success with his wife and children. He said: “It’s a great feeling. We’ve had lots of family parties. My kid had a christening party in there. It is a lovely feeling having people come in and see what we’ve created. So, that is sort of the buzz that keeps you going.”