A banker has given up his career in the City to open Eltham’s first micro pub after having an ‘epiphany’.

Dad-of-two Michael Wren is set to open The Long Pond in Westmount Road on Friday, December 12.

The boozer will be the town’s first micro pub, an expanding trend which started in Kent where – as the name suggests - shops are converted into small pubs.

They tend to focus in fresh, local ales and the entertainment comes from chatter between punters rather than music or TV.

Michael’s parents moving to Tankerton, near Whitstable, last year ignited his dream.

He said: “My dad told me about the micro pub (The Tankerton Arms) and he said you have got to come and see it, you will love it.

“I hadn’t been to one before.

“What I found when I went in there, it just blew me away.

“Within seconds I was laughing. It was the most friendly place I have been in.”

He added: “I said ‘I have got to do this’.

“For the first time in my life I had an ambition. It was like an epiphany.”

It took just seven months for the 49-year-old to give up his job in the City, where he had worked for 30 years, and work towards opening his own pub.

Michael thoroughly researched the venture and spent a lot of time discussing it with locals - including councillors, housing associations, shops and MP Clive Efford – before going through the planning and licensing process.

He was overwhelmed by the positive reaction.

In September, he took over an old plumber’s merchants in Westmount Road and set about transforming it with old school friend, builder Steve Geden and Chris Evans.

He said: “It’s amazing what we have achieved. We have had a good team of local people doing it.”

The Long Pond is now ready to open its doors and excitement is building, with a fanbase already on social media and word spreading around town like wildfire.

“The interest is just amazing,” said Michael.

In keeping with other micro pubs, The Long Pond (named after the popular Eltham landmark) will serve a changing roster ales predominantly from Kent’s 35 to 40 micro brewers, as well as others from the area including Woolwich’s Hop Stuff.

Ciders and wines will also be served, including Kent’s award-winning Chapel Down wines, though there is no place for lagers or mass produced brews.

Snacks such as pork pies and ploughman’s lunches will be available, though Michael wants to complement the surrounding cafes not compete with them

He said: “It’s somewhere for local people to walk up to and meet friends and see people. It is not a place to go and get drunk, it’s a place to go and talk with friends and have a laugh.”

The Long Pond opens at 5pm on Friday, December 12