Inside the quirky pub empire where phones and swearing are banned – and why landlords want to keep it that way

Kegs of beer being delivered to local pubs by horse-drawn cart from Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery in Tadcaster - (PA)

When Mark Evans lost his job at a bar in Bradford 12 years ago, he sat down in the car park outside, chin in his hands, and decided to write a letter to Humphrey Smith, chair of Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, to ask for a job.

To Evans’s shock, two days later, he got a knock on his door and found Smith standing outside.