ABOUT US

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

 

Callum (Cal), Christina (Chrissy), Michael (Mike), Hannah (Han) & Harriet (Harri)

(Sonny's christening, 2013)

 

Welcome to the White Horse Inn, Mark

The White Horse has been part of our family story for more than 30 years – although, as with most family stories, it hasn't exactly followed a straight line.

It all began in 1993, when Mike and Chrissy McKenzie left Staffordshire and the West Midlands for the Somerset countryside, taking on the White Horse Inn with their two young daughters, Harri and Han.

​

A year later, the family grew again when their third and very definitely final child, Cal, was born. For the McKenzies, the White Horse was never just a business; it was home and the place where much of family life happened.

​

In 2001, the family said goodbye to the White Horse for a while and moved on to other ventures. Over the following years, Mike and Chrissy were involved with the original Table 8 restaurant in Wedmore, 8 Outside Catering, Acorns Café in Brent Knoll and The Lynch Country House Hotel in Somerton.

​

But the White Horse wasn't quite finished with us.

 

Back to the White Horse

In December 2014, after 13 years away, sisters Harri and Han took on the pub, with plenty of support, experience and guidance from Mike and Chrissy. The aim was simple: bring the White Horse back to life and create the kind of independent country pub that we'd want to visit ourselves. After a lot of work, a few private events and some soft openings, the doors officially reopened in February 2015.

​

While all of this was happening, Cal had moved to Liverpool for university and stayed in the city afterwards, building a career in hospitality and eventually working in sales and marketing across a group of hotels in Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and Ibiza.

​

Han later stepped away from the day-to-day running of the pub to focus on her family and her own career. She now works with the Wessex Learning Trust and still lives nearby – so she's never too far from the White Horse or the rest of the family.

​

Harri continued at the pub and, together with her husband Stu, welcomed their daughter Hallie in 2023. Stu now runs his own businesses, Adventure Bound and Covered Marquees, while remaining a familiar face around the place.

​

Harri's maternity leave in 2023 was also what first brought Cal back from Liverpool to help cover at the pub. What was originally meant to be temporary didn't quite go to plan...

He never left. Today, Cal is back at the White Horse full-time, assisting with day-to-day running of the business and its next chapter with Mike, Chrissy and Harri all running the business together.

​

And the family is growing again, with Harri and Stu expecting their second child in October 2026, meaning another little one will soon be growing up around the White Horse!

 

The next chapter

The White Horse has changed a lot since our family first arrived in 1993, but at heart it's still the same place.

​

We're an independent family-run country pub, but these days we're also a restaurant, wedding venue, events space and home to everything from intimate family celebrations to our annual MarkFest. We've grown, adapted and probably moved the furniture around more times than we can count, but we've never wanted the White Horse to lose what makes it the White Horse.

​

Good food, generous portions, a relaxed atmosphere and a place where people can come together. Whether that's for a pint at the bar, Sunday lunch with the family, a wedding, a party or one of life's more difficult occasions.

​

More than three decades after Mike and Chrissy first arrived, the White Horse is still a family business, still evolving and still very much home.

​

And we're looking forward to seeing where the next chapter takes us.