The Lawyer PH in Norwich. Manager Rebecca Williamson, right, and bar tender Jo Lesczczynska. Photo: Bill Smith

Pub-goers are a diverse bunch and one man’s favourite boozer is bound to be anathema to someone else.

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The Lawyer and the Wetherpoon’s-owned The Glass House sit opposite each other in Wensum Street, but you could argue that, apart from both being popular Norwich pubs, they don’t share much else.

A customer at the Lawyer summed up part of its appeal when he boasted that it attracted a different clientele to your average boozer.

That means that it might not be on the itinerary of someone enjoying a pub crawl on a Friday or Saturday night.

When the owners David Turnbull and Nick De’Ath took it over, they set out to create their vision of a London-style bar with polished floorboards and wood panelled walls, and they succeeded admirably.

To help keep their vision alive, they hired Rebecca Williamson, who has been general manager at the Lawyer for six years, but started at the pub when it opened in 2005.

She said: “The clientele here are really nice and are slightly older – late 20s upwards – and are people who generally would not want to go down Prince of Wales Road or Riverside.

“I have worked in other pubs and clubs and spent all day asking people for their IDs, because they looked too young.”

She was previously assistant manager at Norwegian Blue in Riverside, which is now closed, and also worked in the industry in Cornwall, although she grew up in our region.

Everyone knows that running a pub these days is very much hard work, but she said she still really enjoyed her work.

She said: “I love meeting new people, and we also get a lot of regulars for a city centre pub.

“The staff are long-term, and the turnover is lower than elsewhere, which means staff like working here.

“Running a pub nowadays you have to give customers something extra and make them feel wanted.”

The pub serves three real ales, which are becoming increasingly popular, as elsewhere across the city, and aims to give people who might be tempted to try the Wetherspoon’s across the road, where the prices are cheaper, something different.

“We cannot compete price-wise with the Glass House,” she admitted, “so we offer the complete opposite. We cater to a different market, but the Wetherspoon’s does bring people down our street, which is good.”

Fans of Thai food also make a beeline to the Lawyer, which, in partnership with Norwich Thai restaurant, The Sugar Hut, serves authentic Thai food cooked on the premises.

The Evening News has been urging customers to return to pubs in our Love your Local campaign.

To see more stories from the campaign visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/loveyourlocal.