True North Brew Co., the pub operator formerly known as Forum Café Bars, is to open a raft of new Sheffield-based venues over the next 12 months, MCA has learnt.
Kane Yeardley, who founded Forum 20 years ago, told MCA The Blue Stoops in Dronfield, an ex-Enterprise and Grade II listed property, would open in October 2016 following a £600,000 refurbishment, which would see it double the number of covers to 200.
In May the business acquired another Enterprise site, The Horse and Jockey in Hillsborough, which it plans to open next summer after a £300,000 refit.
“It’s quite a big job,” Yeardley told MCA. “It hasn’t got a kitchen and we need to get the right planning for it. We’ve let it to one of the up and coming breweries. It’s like they have their own pop up pub without the cost [of taking on a pub]. We’re renting the site out for beer, which we can then sell in the other sites.”
A third ex-Enterprise pub, The Norfolk Arms in Grenoside, is also due to reopen under the new owners next year.
In addition, True North has signed a deal with Sheffield Council to turn the Grade II-listed Walkley Library in South Road into a pub and restaurant catering for 200.
Described by Yeardley as a £1m project, the venue would ‘possibly’ open next summer, he said. The building had been due to close but under the plans the library will still operate within the new venue.
“We plan to run two beer and food festivals a year where the profits go [towards] finance the library,” he added. We’re hoping it’s a great win-win for everybody.”
In 2015, True North ploughed £100,000 into The Riverside in Mowbray Street after purchasing the freehold from a dance charity group, the same year in which it built its own ten-barrel brewery, gin distillery and coffee roasting facilities.
Given the rapid growth in expansion, the business has also set up its own HR department.
“We’ve got two people working on recruitment,” Yeardley added.
