Midlands & East Anglia Premier Hospitality

Simpsons Gin Bar

Simpsons Gin Bar
Written by Roma Publications

Simpsons Gin Bar

Simpsons Gin Bar

A flavour of 1920s American glamour has arrived in Sutton Coldfield with the opening Simpsons Gin Bar in the heart of the Birmingham town. Taking a degree of inspiration from the classic American speakeasy, the bar will be a relaxed environment to enjoy a quiet, quality drink with friends.

The brainchild of the Simpson family, Simpsons Gin Bar has been a long held ambition for mum Anne-Marie, dad Derek, daughter Natalie and son Bradley, who hope the bar will fill a gap in the Sutton Coldfield hospitality market.

As lead singer for popular boyband The Vamps, Bradley will be in charge of the bar’s musical offering. Natalie’s day job as a solicitor will take care of the legal side, while dad Derek will be hands on with marketing.

Mum Anne-Marie has spent much of the past 12 months working on the planning and finance side of the business. Ahead of its grand opening, she told Premier Hospitality about what prompted the family to start the venture and her hopes for the bar:

“We’ve been thinking about the bar for a while. For a long time I’ve had a bit of a pipe dream to get involved in the hospitality industry. My background is in regeneration and over a number of years there are things the public sector can do to regenerate an area but I think if you really want to regenerate, you need to create a good place to generate interest and maintain footfall.

“The gin industry has been growing in recent years and is widely available but we felt Sutton Coldfield was lacking a lounge bar concept and there was a gap in the market. It will be somewhere you can enjoy a gin and tonic with a few nibbles in a relaxed atmosphere.

“The design definitely has elements of a speakeasy but it’s not absolutely faithful to that. We’ve added some new elements and tried to capture the glamour of the 1920s as a whole. It’s a very small and intimate venue which I think adds to the feel and fits the concept.”

With room for 50 guests, seating is split across two levels. The lower floor encompasses the bar and seating for 20 while the upper level has balcony with armchairs and a sofa area at the back. In addition to a wide selection of drinks, innovative and seasonal food choices will be served making Simpsons Gin Bar ideal for people not looking for a big meal but some quality nibbles to go with a good drink.

Summarising what the bar means to the family, Anne-Marie added:

“This is absolutely huge for us. We want customers to have a quality experience, with customer service at the heart of that so people walk out thinking ‘I had a really good night there, I was looked after by personable staff’.

“That kind of atmosphere is how we are as a family. It’s hugely important and having our names on it means there’s no ducking and diving.”

Simpsons Gin Bar

Approved Shopfitting & Interiors

Based in the West Midlands, Approved Shopfitting & Interiors specialise in all aspects of shopfitting, building, bespoke joinery, and commercial and domestic refurbishments. The company operates from its 15’000 sq ft commercial unit, which includes a workshop and offices, and carries out work for well-known hotel chains, pharmacies, retail stores, pubs, bars & restaurants, as well as high-end residential developments and offices.

With over 30 years’ experience in office refurbishment and shopfitting, Approved Shopfitting & Interiors is the go-to company in the West Midlands for high quality and high specification interiors. Whether a client is modelling a new restaurant interior, planning an upmarket retail operation, renovating their existing space or looking for a specialist residential interior for their luxury property, Approved Shopfitting & Interiors can provide solutions.

Past projects for Approved Shopfitting & Interiors include Gas Street Social in the Mailbox, The Plough at Shenstone, Buffalo & Rye and Marmalade at the Rep theatre. Most recently, Approved Shopfitting & Interiors was appointed as the main contractor on Simpson’s Gin Bar, working on the project from day one.

Once briefed, Approved Shopfitting & Interiors set about planning labour, procurement, programme of works and all health and safety requirements. Regular progress meetings with the Gin Palace team were arranged, to make sure everything ran as planned and the expectations of the client were met at every stage.

Project Manager, Ian Fleming, said:

“We have been involved with many retail and leisure projects throughout the UK and enjoy working with all sectors of the industry, but every now and then something a little bit different comes along. It is important for us to have diversity as you never know what may come along next and as we use local tradesmen they can also enjoy the fruits of their labour at Simpson’s Gin Palace!”

Marketing Director, Sarah Turner added:

“The key to a successful interior fit-out is quality craftsmanship, using the best materials and first class project management. We pride ourselves on being able to deliver in all departments and helping our clients to achieve their vision. We are very proud of our joinery shop where we manufacture bespoke joinery such as the bar for Simpson’s Gin Palace.”

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Roma Publications