Graham and Jenny keep flying high at Heathrow

Pub managers Graham and Jenny (pictured with son Luke), have been managing pubs at London’s Heathrow Airport for the past 20 years.

Currently at The Crown Rivers, they first joined Wetherspoon in September 1998 as a management couple, working at The Hope Tap.

Jenny recalled: “I had just turned 20, had finished catering college only in the July and, by the September, we had started with Wetherspoon. Graham had had previous experience working for a pub company.”

Jenny, originally from Bedford, and Dublin-born Graham first met at school in south Wales.

Their first Wetherspoon pub together, as pub managers, came in 2002 at the newly opened The Central Bar, before taking on their first pub at Heathrow.

Graham and Jenny were married in 2003 and, by September 2004, had moved to their first pub at Heathrow – called Wetherspoon, in the old terminal two building.

Jenny said: “We have certainly seen some changes, not only with Wetherspoon, but at the airport too.

“It’s a vibrant and exciting place to work and has worked perfectly for our family. With the extended hours which we have to operate at Heathrow, it has been possible to have a good work-life balance.

“Wetherspoon is fantastic with maternity leave and support with childcare, deserving to be recognised for this.”

Their son Luke, joined the team at The Crown Rivers in August 2023 as a 16-year-old floor associate.

Jenny explained: “Luke finished his GCSEs and didn’t want to stay on for sixth form. He wanted to experience work and chose an apprenticeship with Wetherspoon.”

Still under 18, Luke can do everything at work, except serving alcohol.

He works at The Crown Rivers three days a week and also, as part of his apprenticeship, studies online courses with Wetherspoon.

Jenny continued: “It is lovely to see him developing at work. “He is naturally quite quiet, but the job has definitely helped him to come out of his shell.

“At the airport, we get to meet and converse with people from all around the world and, as a floor associate, he is in the thick of it.

“He is getting to see the real world and gaining in confidence.” Luke is currently studying his level 2 food and beverage apprenticeship and, when he turns 18, will step up to level 3.

Jenny confirmed: “He’s looking forward to moving up to the next level of his apprenticeship, which will be a more supervisory role and the opportunity to do more. He can’t wait for that new area of training.”

She added: “We have had quite a few under-18s working with us, all studying for different things, and it is a great opportunity for them to develop a good work ethic.

“They don’t all continue with Wetherspoon, but it sets them up for a good career, wherever that might be.

“College or university doesn’t work for everybody – and apprenticeships can offer a great balance of work experience, getting a wage and gaining a qualification.”

Meanwhile, Jenny and Graham’s daughter, Jessica, also has an eye on a job with Wetherspoon.

Jenny concluded: “Jessica sometimes hears us talking about the pub and the airport, and she definitely has an opinion.”

The company will have to wait a little longer for the next Farr family member, since Jessica is still just 12.