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Norwich pub landlord to be turned into a statue
Statue of Phil Cutter is to be unveiled after he was named a BT 'landlord' manager of the month. PIC: Supplied by Phil Cutter - Credit: Archant
Admiral Lord Nelson, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill and Edith Cavell have all been immortalised as statues and now a Norwich pub landlord is set for the same honour.
A life-size, bronze-effect sculpture of Phil Cutter will be unveiled outside the Murderers pub by BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey later this week.
The unusual ceremony is part of a new Manager of the Month award being launched by BT this week to celebrate landlords who use sport to bring people together.
Mr Cutter will be one of the first publicans in the country to win the award - and have a fibreglass statue of themselves unveiled.
He said he did not know whether it was a wind-up or not when he first got the call.
'I was approached a few months ago. They said they were starting a new scheme to try and show that there's a lot of publicans out there that do things to try and promote their pub.
'To be honest I thought why would anyone want to make a life-size sculpture of me but he said it was going to have a big national profile.
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'I came round to thinking it wasn't a wind up and it was real.'
Mr Cutter, who has worked at the Timber Hill pub since 1987 and last year pulled his one-millionth pint, went down to Pinewood Studios to have his body digitally mapped by cameras for the statue.
He said: 'I was in this studio in the middle of Pinewood where they recreate models for Star Wars.'
Mr Cutter said he stood still while 160 cameras, which were all trained on him, took a 360-degree picture of him from which his sculpture has been made. The Murderers is renowned for the live sport it shows, particularly football and boxing, and has previously won best sports pub at the Great British Pub Awards.
Mr Cutter, who is also a co-chairman of the Norwich City of Ale Festival, said he was 'really very proud' to be recognised in this way.
He said: 'You imagine how many pubs there are across the length and breadth of the UK and to not only be considered but have the honour of winning and being one of the first ones, I'm really very proud.'
The landlord said the statue would be found a place somewhere on the premises which was a way for him to 'be at the pub all the time now'.