Premier Hospitality

Hogarths Gin Palace

Hogarths
Written by Roma Publications

Hogarths Gin Palace

Hogarths

An exciting new gin bar has been unveiled in Leicester, following the extensive refurbishment of the ground floor areas of what was formerly Square Bar, situated on Hotel Street. The bar, owned by Amber Taverns, is the seventh Hogarths branch to have opened in the UK. Interestingly, the Leicester site is at present the largest of the seven.

Hogarths Gin Palace was a huge success when it officially opened its doors at the end of January. The bar offers over 140 flavours of gin and 20 various tonics as well as innovative cocktails and craft ales.

Set over three floors, the building comprises the ground floor which is currently Hogarths – where library meets traditional public house with a touch of elegance. The first floor provides the client with scope for future expansion and the second floor houses the manager accommodation.

Award winning architectural and interior design practice Innex Design Ltd was responsible for the interior design and project management.
Established over 25 years ago, Innex Design was formed by partnership John Catelani and Mike Atkinson. The company carries out a broad range of projects from residential extensions to retail outlets, to pubs, restaurants, and hotels.

Premier Hospitality interviewed Mark Clancy, of Innex Design, who revealed some useful information regarding the successful transformation of the Leicester scheme.
“The design inception began in July last year and commenced on site in November. The development progressed efficiently, to a successful opening in January this year. The launch of the latest Hogarths outlet took place late January.
“Silverglide LTd principal Contractor, working alongside ourselves integrated efficiently as part of the team. The target market is all generations from 18 – 80, male and female; we have noticed that the daytime tends to be older age with the evenings seeing more of the younger trade.
“Fascinatingly, the building is Grade ΙΙ* listed, therefore a sensitive design and refurbishment was undertaken in order to carefully protect the heritage property.
“Due to the location of Hogarths within the city centre and given its listed status – no external drinking areas were provided at the venue – just the addition of a few seasonal hanging baskets!

Traditional and quality materials have been integrated within Hogarths Gin Palace, maintaining a commitment to ensuring that the finest care has gone into the structure and creation of the venue. Elegant hardwood timbers feature in the venue, alongside eye-catching stained glass and brass detailing, conveying a great sense of sophistication and style. Rich, deep colours such as browns, reds and brassy tones are complemented by a monochrome tiled area.

TV screens are key elements of a Hogarths which are distributed throughout the premises. Of course gin is a key feature within the ‘Gin Palace’, displayed in cabinets throughout the premises. Stunning chandeliers dotted around the ceiling space illuminate the venue and enhance the listed ceiling features which add to the sense of extravagance.

When asked what it means to him to be involved with the project, Mark replied:
“It is very rewarding given the time and effort expended to get to that stage; it’s great to see the hard work paying off with successful results and positive feedback. There are other Hogarths units in Bolton, Preston, Ilkeston, South Shields, Wakefield and Swansea.”

Bringing excitement and innovation to the city centre’s bar scene, this is the second gin bar to open on Hotel Street in recent months, with 45 West opening late last year.

Gary Roberts, Operations Director at Amber Taverns said:
“After the launch of our first Hogarths in Bolton in October 2014, we quickly identified a number of potential sites with the former Square Bar in Leicester being so close to the top of the list – both for its location in the city centre and its fantastic architecture.
“Hogarths Gin Palaces create a fantastic venue for a quick pint or a gin, or for a chilled evening out. All the sites retain their own individuality to reflect their customers’ requirements – but all deliver exceptional gins.
“The Leicester opening complements the recent openings of 33 Cank Street and 45 West Bottle Shop & Bar – to deliver exceptional drinks in fantastic surroundings.
“I love Hogarths; each one simply works and is a testament to all the hard work from our team of trainers and ultimately the fantastic staff that deliver the end result.
“The concept is to develop a premium community centric bar with a gin twist, while embracing a wide range of innovative spirits such as the cold pressed coffee liqueur from Australia – Mr Black.
“We also stock a wide range of cask and craft beers and regularly rotate both classic and contemporary cocktails.
“Gin is at the forefront of all our activity. With more than 140 gins available and a choice of over 20 tonics and mixers, we can deliver our customers their very own perfect serve.”

Hogarths

Silverglide Ltd

Specialising in bar and restaurant refurbishment and shop fitting, Silverglide Ltd deliver projects primarily in the hospitality sector. Since its inception in 2008, the establishment has built a strong reputation working in partnership with clients and committing to delivering on their promises.

The company has delivered a vast range of projects, including several blue-chip breweries and restaurant refurbishments and office fit-outs.

Additionally, Silverglide has completed developments on Hogarth’s Gin Palace in several locations.

To discover more information Premier Hospitality spoke with joint MD’s Rick Cleworth and Tony Judge, at Silverglide Ltd. Tony commented:
“We worked on Hogarth’s Gin Palace Leicester as one of the preferred contractors; we underwent an open tender process and subsequently won that particular job.
“We worked very closely with Innex Design to institute their design brief. We would like to congratulate Innex Design on celebrating 25 years.
“The project took place over ten weeks – it went extremely smoothly! Yes there are always some hiccups and sometimes extra requirements by the client, but that’s expected with any project. We think it’s excellent that we were given this opportunity and we’re very pleased to be associated with the project.”

According to Rick:
“The gin palaces in particular (Hogarth’s) – have such a palatial inner finish, bespoke carpentry and joinery – the finish on them is second to none.”
Tony added:
“We pride ourselves on the under banner that we have below our name which is ‘quality and commitment’ and that is something we hold dear to the company ethos and always strive to deliver.”

Rick summarised with:
“Even in terms of employment, we have had employees in the past who have planned to work temporarily but they have gone on to stay for five years or more – to see people evolve here into a steady part of the team is fantastic – and that includes the apprenticeship schemes that we have too.”

NP Integrated Technology Ltd

NP Technology Ltd specialise in the design, supply and installation of domestic and commercial audio and visual systems, security lighting control and networks.

Nigel Pilling started the company 25 years ago and from its humble beginnings, NP Technology Ltd has grown over the years. Now, the company has 10 vans on the road and a team of 14 staff.

Working on Hogarths Gin Palace, NP Technology Ltd supplied and installed the complete audio, visual, security and ambient lighting system. They provided a robust modern HD distribution system, which gives the staff complete control over the entertainment system, including a Zonal Audio System to create the correct audio levels in certain areas internally and externally throughout.

The company also installed a full security system that is not only there for the staff’s peace of mind but for the customers too.

Finally, a simple but practical Colour Changing LED System was installed which can be set to Amber during daytime hours, paying homage to the Amber Tavern company name, and with the touch of a button can be set to fast or slow fade depending on the atmosphere.

Following the installation of the system, NP Technology Ltd offers remote access maintenance and a team to support staff that are on hand to offer both telephone and onsite support.

John Thompson from NP Technology said: “Having worked with Amber Taverns from day one we class every new project just as important as the last. We are extremely grateful and honoured that Amber Taverns use us for all of their developments and projects.
“We understand that with technology installations both in the domestic and commercial sector, there are always going to be glitches and faults at the times that you don’t want them. We pride ourselves on getting the job done, no matter what is thrown at us. We are proud to still be here after some tough recent years in the pub industry.”

About the author

Roma Publications