The venue has now been open for nearly seven years
Evelina Black
11:32, 16 May 2026Updated 11:33, 16 May 2026
Michelle and Robin Jackson own The Black Toad (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A couple had never considered opening a pub until they went to view a flat in Hoylake. Robin and Michelle Jackson, 48 and 45, both worked in retail when they were looking for somewhere to live after they first got together.
After being made an offer by the building owner, they had an idea and decided to open a craft beer micropub and bottle shop called The Black Toad on Market Street in Hoylake in July 2019. The ECHO spoke to Robin, originally from Wallasey, about what it’s been like running the pub for nearly seven years, how it got its name and the unusual way they adapted to covid restrictions.
How did you get into the pub industry?
We were just looking for somewhere to live and we knew this woman who owned this building in Hoylake. She’d converted an old solicitors into a retail unit and a flat upstairs and when she offered us the flat she said she’d do us a deal if we wanted to run our own business out of the unit.
We considered it and we just thought let’s see if we can squash a pub in the space and it went from there. I had very little hospitality experience outside of a few shifts behind bars but we both worked retail for ages which is quite similar.
I’m naturally more risk averse but my wife is a bit more gung-ho so she was saying ‘come on, let’s just take a risk and take a stab in the dark’ and that’s how it all started.
There’s a lot of information online about other little micropubs that have been converted from random retail units so there are resources out there. We also had help from the guys at The Bow-Legged Beagle who have a few pubs now so they gave us a hand. Other than that we just winged it really.
Michelle and Robin have been married for four years (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
How were you feeling the day before the opening?
I was pretty nervous but we were confident that there was a gap in the market in Hoylake for our pub. We thought people would respond well to us so I think we were quite confident that it would go well but definitely not as well as it has.
What is the significance behind the pub’s name?
Sadly there isn’t one and we keep meaning to make one up. When we were brainstorming we tried different animal names and then we landed on The Black Toad. It actually works quite well because we have endangered natterjack toads that live down here in West Kirby so maybe that’s the significance.
Has there been any big changes in the last seven years?
Obviously covid was the big one which happened the year after we opened but apart from that we’ve just kind of gradually adjusted things with the times and as we’ve gone along. We’ve done a few little renovations and expanded the beer garden a bit but we’ve been happy just running this one cool little pub in Hoylake and hanging out with our regulars.
The pub opened less than a year before the first covid lockdown(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
How did the pub navigate covid restrictions?
We were kind of lucky really because we got our name out there during covid by doing takeouts. It initially started as a way to sell off the stock we had and people would queue up at the door with their milk cartons to fill up with draught beer. It was nice because we were still able to communicate with people during lockdown and get out as much as we were allowed.
It grew and grew and that’s how we built the speciality bottle shop aspect of the pub because people just kept coming back for more and more beer. We still do it and we still have empty milk cartons to fill with beer when people come in for it.
What is it about your local community that you love?
Hoylake is the best. It’s just so nice because everyone’s really cool and it’s a lovely, chilled atmosphere. When you walk down the street everyone is friendly and it’s just a lovely place to be because there’s a sense of community. My favourite part of my job is just being behind the bar and feeling like part of the community.
What is it like living above your workplace?
I like it because it’s nice to be able to nip down in my pyjamas when there’s a delivery to let them in. Michelle goes down in the middle of the night to do some cleaning or decorating while nobody’s around so it’s handy to be able to get stuff done and then just go straight back up to bed.
What makes you different from other pubs?
There are other pubs in a similar vein to us but I think no one has our snack selection. We have unrivalled pub snacks and everyone who comes in says how it’s the greatest pub snack selection they’ve ever seen in their life. I think we have almost every snack available like every type of nut or scampi fries or flavours of pork scratchings.
Michelle and Robin in the beer garden (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
What’s an unusual thing that’s happened at the pub?
A toad appeared in the pub before we opened. I think someone had grabbed it out of the garden and shoved it through our letterbox as a joke. I picked it up and put it in the garden in the water but I thought it was a strange kind of signal to see a little toad looking at me in the pub before we’d even opened in 2019.
What is your favourite beer you currently sell?
I really like a Liverpool brewery called Azvex. They bring out fantastic beers so I think any of their hazy IPAs are my favourites at the moment.
Have you got any plans for the future?
There’s no major upheavals that we’ve got planned but after seven years there’s a few things here and there that need repainting and things like that. That’ll be in the works the next couple of months but apart from that we’re happy with how things are.
Is there anything you would have done differently if you could?
There’s probably a few minor things because obviously we’ve made loads of little mistakes along the way that you learn from and never do again but there’s nothing that jumps out to me. I don’t think we’d do anything different. I’m quite happy with what we’ve done and I think we’ve done a good job.
The Black Toad is located on 32 Market St, Hoylake, Wirral CH47 2AF.