The Physician, a real ale pub and restaurant, which opened at the end of November is offering more options for dining and socialising to increase trade in Edgbaston Village on the Calthorpe Estate.
These newcomers are seeing the benefit of being located in Birmingham’s new leisure and lifestyle destination just a mile from the city centre, that is characterised by attractive period properties and benefits from improved car parking added this year by Calthorpe Estates to support the new operators.
Interest in Edgbaston Village has been building all year, as Ralph Minott , Director of Development explained; ‘Looking back we see 2016 as a landmark year for achieving many aspects of our vision to create a thriving village centre to Edgbaston. We have sensitively restored period properties to give them a new life for leisure and retail opportunities.
‘We have also invested in public realm to improve walking and connectivity across the Village, and make access and parking close to the bars and restaurants easy, which has received a tremendous response.
‘In tandem, we have managed to attract some fantastic independent operators that are providing something different to what already exists in Birmingham and are bringing their own eclectic style.’
A number of the bars and restaurants have made headlines winning regional and national awards. El Borracho de Oro picked up The Best Restaurant In Birmingham 2016 at the Birmingham Awards. The High Field was crowned Best Brunch in Birmingham by the Birmingham Mail Breakfast Club and Best Gastro Pub at the Birmingham Food & Drink Awards.
The Edgbaston collected Best Cocktail Bar and Best Hotel Bar and the Michelin star restaurant, Simpsons, achieved its highest ranking in the National Restaurant Awards Top 100 along with many other award credits.
The success of Edgbaston Village is generating more visitors and encouraging new operators.
For example, the Boston Tea Party will be opening Summer 2017 on Harborne Road in another period property and OKA, the British luxury furniture and home accessories retailer, has confirmed it will be opening its first Midlands store at 20-22 Harborne Road early in the new year.
Calthorpe Estates is keen to manage the mix and variety as part of its development strategy for Edgbaston Village. As Ralph Minott added ‘We have a clear vision of what we feel will work. Our objective is to provide a rich mix and operators who will complement each other, for the benefit of those that live, work and visit the area.’