Friday January 23rd 2026
Dryburgh Arms, St Boswells
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A pub boss has been given a boost in a bid to turn around the fortunes of a struggling village watering hole.
Saul Roden recently acquired the Dryburgh Arms Hotel in Newtown St Boswells.
On Friday, January 23, members of Scottish Borders Council’s Licensing Board agreed to regularise opening hours and to provide go-ahead for the playing of live and recorded music by agreeing to a variation of the pub’s premises licence.
Mr Roden revealed that the pub was currently loss-making and that he was currently working for nothing in a bid to revive its fortunes.
He said: “This application is just to bring it in line with normal licensing hours and live and recorded music, to bring it in line with any other normal pub.
“I bought the pub based on the fact that they did do live music once a month and played live music.
“It is currently loss-making and it would be necessary really to provide this service to give it any chance of longer term survival, that’s it really.
“I currently work for the place for free, just to keep it going, so hopefully we are going to turn it around a little bit.
“When I actually purchased it I thought that the music licence was already in place, based on the history of the place, but I found it wasn’t.”
Board member Councillor John Paton-Day said: “In this day and age when everything seems to be closing I could not possibly object to this.”
Councillor David Parker agreed, saying: “Anything we can do to support small businesses like this I’m happy to do so.”
Those views were echoed by chair Councillor Marshall Douglas, who added: “We see the need to regularise the hours and get the most you can out of the business and enable you to turn it around and carry on and we approve the licence and wish you all the best for the future.”
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