North West

New Velvet

Velvet Manchester Central- Canal Street

Wl established hotel, bar and restaurant already under their belts, Mark Cain and Sunni Syal, are no strangers to a winning formula.

Their Velvet venue on Canal Street has been a mainstay of Manchester’s gay village for years and now their second site – Velvet Manchester Central – is already proving just as popular.ith a wel

Velvet Manchester Central is a new cocktail bar, located on Mount Street, a stone’s throw from the town hall. Similar to their first site Velvet Manchester Central is the perfect spot for after work drinks or catching up with old friends.

Premier Hospitality spoke to Velvet Co-owner Mark Cain about the latest venue for Velvet and what it means to see the Velvet brand continued.

Velvet Manchester Central- Canal Street

Velvet Owner Mark Cain, said:

“We are in a great location, just next to Albert Square and Manchester Central, a lively area of Manchester where there is always something going on. We opened a couple of weeks before Manchester International Festival and more recently the Manchester Jazz Festival took place which brought even more people to the area. Feedback for Velvet Manchester Central has been very positive.”

Richard Chadwick Associates was the designer on Velvet Manchester Central, whilst Bridgewater was the main contractor. The site opened in June, although the project had been in the pipeline for quite some time, as Mark explained:

“Over the last 15 years we had shown a lot of interest in the site, but it wasn’t until this year when the landlord approached us about taking on the lease that the ball got rolling.

Velvet Manchester Central- Canal Street

“We have installed a restaurant and function room in the basement, a bar/restaurant on the ground floor and a substantial seating area outside. We also have an internal balcony area which has its own bar.”

The ground floor and the external seating area opened at the beginning of June, whilst the basement bar/restaurant opens at the end of August. Although Velvet Manchester Central is a new addition to the Velvet portfolio it is not a complete change for the brand.

Velvet Manchester Central- Canal Street

Mark said:

“The site takes elements of Velvet, in terms of its styling. We brought in some murals which we have in Velvet, along with curtains and other little touches which are easily identifiable with our other site. However, the offering at Velvet Manchester Central is somewhat different to our site on Canal Street, which is a restaurant, bar and boutique hotel. Velvet Manchester Central is a drinks venue with food, similar to how we started Velvet on Canal Street many years ago.”

With Velvet Manchester Central proving as successful as the first site, the next step would be to open up a third venue, but only if the right location presents itself, said Mark:

“The location and the ergonomics are very important to us, so if we felt that we had found the correct site again then we would consider a third Velvet. We wouldn’t just want to put Velvet anywhere, so finding the right spot in the city is very important to us.”

Velvet Manchester Central- Canal Street

For more information about Velvet, please visit: www.velvetmanchester.com.

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