Nigel Ridley Nigel Ridley was the smarmy chief executive of Newton & Ridley in 1990 who spearheaded the brewery ' s theme pub scheme . In 1989 , when Nigel was the brewery ' s marketing manager , Rovers cellarman Jack Duckworth had a meeting with him to rat on Bet and Alec Gilroy , who were going through a messy breakup . Hoping that the brewery would oust the Gilroys and offer him and Vera the tenancy , Jack fed Nigel a cock - and - bull story about him keeping the pub going with Alec a shadow of his former self . Nigel learned that this was true - minus Jack ' s embellishments - when he paid a surprise visit to the Rovers and Alec tried to cover for Bet ' s absence by saying that she had gone away for a while . The Gilroys reconciled a few days later , before the brewery could act on their separation . Some time later , when Cecil Newton retired to the Isle of Man , Nigel was promoted to chief executive . Unlike his predecessor , Nigel saw no value in working men ' s pubs , and decided to chase a wealthier clientele by transforming some of their venues into theme pubs . One of the first pubs to receive a facelift was the Dog and Bottle , which was done over with a Southern states USA theme and renamed The Riverboat . In May 1990 , Nigel informed Bet and Alec Gilroy that the Rovers Return would shortly be done over with a New York theme and rebranded as Yankees . Though Alec was dazzled by the promise of increased takings , Bet was concerned that their regulars would desert the pub , and proved her point to Alec by telling all and sundry about it so that Nigel would hear their complaints on his upcoming visit to the Rovers . Her idea worked , but Nigel took their criticisms on the chin , happily debating the issue with Percy Sugden . Eventually , for Bet ' s sake Alec told Nigel that they wouldn ' t go along with the changes . Set on his idea , Nigel carried on with the plans without the Gilroys ' knowledge , putting Alec off by assuring him that they wouldn ' t have a theme pub forced on them - a statement which was technically correct as they were to be offered the tenancy of the Quarryman ' s Rest , a notorious dive near the cemetery , if they refused to stay . The work was delayed for a few weeks when the brewery anonymously approached Deirdre Barlow about buying 1 Coronation Street , offering her £5 , 000 above its market value so that they could knock away the wall and incorporate the space into Yankees . Deirdre only considered the idea when she knew that the offer came from Newton & Ridley and met with Nigel in the Coach and Horses , where he increased the brewery ' s offer to £35 , 000 . Deirdre provisionally accepted , but when her husband Ken Barlow spitefully told the Gilroys that the brewery was going ahead with the theme pub , the neighbours rallied against the scheme , with Jim McDonald and Mavis Wilton appointed to put their case to the brewery . Receiving their complaints about Yankees being a public nuisance , Nigel dismissed them as alarmist and pointed to market research showing there to be a demand for theme pubs . In light of the Gilroys ' behaviour , Nigel told them that they wouldn ' t be getting the Quarryman ' s Rest ( though they had refused it anyway ) and so , seizing their last chance to make a stand against the brewery , Bet and Alec closed the pub and bodily threw Nigel out when he came to investigate . Inevitably , the brewery repossessed the pub , and the Gilroys confined to the living quarters while Nigel installed Roger Woodhouse as relief manager . Moments after their arrival , Cecil Newton made a surprise appearance at the Rovers , having returned to the fold to put the brakes on the theme pub scheme , which he regarded as " fixing something that isn ' t broken " . Nigel didn ' t accept Cecil ' s authority , calling him a fossil , but Cecil put him in his place , warning him that he still had a lot of friends on the board . The transformation of the Rovers , and the purchase of No . 1 , were immediately cancelled , and the Gilroys remained in charge . Two months later , Nigel darkened the Rovers ' doors once more to present Tina Fowler with a bottle of champagne after becoming Newton & Ridley ' s Barmaid of the Month . Unbeknown to Nigel , Tina had almost not shown up for the do after Alec made her skivvy for the day to get a day ' s work out of her before telling her . To buy himself time , Alec had introduced him to almost every regular in the bar . Nigel took a liking to Tina and they began dating in secret , with Nigel dropping Tina off for work in Viaduct Street to avoid being seen . Used to being treated like something Alec had stepped on , Tina started behaving as though she was indispensable ; her attitude and timekeeping worsened and she insulted Alec in front of customers . Alec decided to sack her but when Bet saw her kissing Nigel , she rushed to stop him . Eventually , Bet fired Tina herself for barring Percy Sugden . Tina got Nigel to reinstate her , but after a row with Bet , Tina interrupted Nigel in a wine bar when he was on date with a young woman which she at first assumed was a business meeting . When it became clear that Nigel was two - timing her and she meant nothing to him , Tina threw a glass of wine over him and smashed it against the table . Nigel had no further dealings with the Gilroys . External links . Nigel Ridley at Corrie . net