The new food and drink venues set to change St Helens town centre

Of course this is far from just a local issue – shops up and down the country have been hit hard over the past decade, particularly by the growth of online shopping and edge of town retail parks.

The pandemic has also accelerated that change to online habits.

How things will be once restrictions ease is hard to know. Will people craving physical experiences flock back to shops? Or will the online habits stick.

A report by St Helens Borough Council, town centre retail vacancies were at an average 20.9 per cent for 2019/20, though it aims to get that figure down to 14 per cent in time for the 2020/21 report.

Plugging those empty spaces may not necessarily be retailers.

There's a change happening in St Helens town centre, with a growth in the food and drink sector.

It might seem strange, given the challenges faced by the hospitality sector over lockdown, but there are business people – perhaps aware of people's hunger to socialise fully and freely again when the ghastly pandemic is over – who are investing in restaurants and bars.

It makes you wonder how this pattern could change the town centre – and whether a thriving food and drink scene could bring back footfall and in turn make it more attractive to prospective retailers?

As part of our campaign to back businesses recovering from the pandemic – in particular independents and entrepreneurs – the Star has looked at a few of the recently opened ventures in different parts of the town centre and others that are on the way.

Of course these will supplement many of the more long-standing venues.

Scene By the Dean - Barrow Street

The bar is being created on Barrow Street and is the latest venture by Eddie Dean and Victoria Zsigmond Dean, who own the Dean restaurant and the recently-opened Smokehouse by the Dean.

Scene by the Dean is set to launch later in the year on the corner of Barrow Street, with Claughton Street.

An artist's image of the Scene by the Dean

In a statement announcing the planning permission, The Dean's bosses wrote: "Our aim will be to develop a tranquil wine bar, that’ll allow you to enjoy a night-out, in a peaceful relaxing atmosphere.

"If you love The Dean, then you’ll love here."

Two Brothers coffee house

A former bakery that will be turned into a new independent coffee shop.

Work is underway to convert the former Galloways in St Helens into the new home for a speciality coffee venue.

Two Brothers coffee will be taking over the corner "Globe" building on Barrow Street.

Two Brothers offers seasonal artisan coffee celebrated for being single origin.

Two Brothers is heading to town

They are launching their third North West venue in St Helens on the corner after the success of their flagship Altrincham base and Warrington Market branch.

The Imperial Food and Drink Quarter

The Imperial Quarter is set to transform the site of a former public toilets on Brook Street – in fact if you take a walk down there you can see it rising into the skies.

Businessman Ian Pitts already owns the Cork & Dough restaurant, Imperial Bar, the Secret Garden and The Church, which are on Ormskirk Street – adjacent to the new site.

Now he is pumping further investment into the town centre and work is well underway to construct the new eating and drinking hub, with builders and scaffolders continuing construction.

A CGI of the Imperial Quarter

Mr Pitts is expected to make further annoucements about which independent food sellers will be locating there.

On the ground floor would be a series of street food units and on the first floor there is set to be seating.

There will also be an ice cream shop.

The proposals also aim to install other containers on the paved area near the Brook Street building that would house two additional extra street food units. There would also be outdoor seating.

Local street food and bar business models were working successfully in cities around the UK over the past few years prior to lockdown.

Imperial Quarter is set to be a smaller scale version for St Helens but there are hopes, if approved, it could deliver a boost to the hospitality sector and social scene once lockdown restrictions are eventually eased.

66 American Steakhouse on Bridge Street

One venue to be open already is 66 American Steakhouse on Bridge Street.

The venue, housed in the Savoy Building (which is also home to the Chinese Buffet), has been launched by Kane McQuade from St Helens.

He decided to invest in his hometown and open a steak and burger restaurant with a top chef in the town centre.

Kane said: "I've been in management but I decided that I wanted to own my own place and at first I decided to make a bar, but after speaking to town centre manager Gary Maddock I realised the need for good eateries in St Helens as part of the town's regeneration and I was excited to be a part of that.

The steakhouse opened recently following investment

"I wanted to open an affordable place that offered good food and after interviewing chefs I found our chef who specialises in top quality steaks and burgers and I just thought that was a great idea and different to what else was out there."

Kane took over the venue and slowly did the place up himself, offering diverse seating layout including benches, booths and tables with scope to offer cocktails in the future once established.

He said: "We've got delicious steaks, which are some of the best I've ever had, even the cheaper cuts, and things like Halloumi fries, dirty burgers, calamari, ribs and more, just proper tasty American food at a decent price."

The venue adds to the offer on Bridge Street, which also includes Phoenix Plant Based Eatery and The Nelson, Vigour and Kaspa's.

Additionally, the ground floor of the former Tyrers building is being transformed for the use of MD Creatives, with boss Miguel Doforo pledging to keep with the building's tradition by opening a Tyrer's team rooms.

The Townhouse

The Townhouse has been opened recently by Brad Garrity, from Windle, who decided to take over the former tapas bar to launch his own bar offering cocktails, spirits and premium lagers and beers along "the Duke Street shuffle".

The bar was supposed to open before lockdown, however Brad says a "silver lining" of the forced closures of bars meant he was able to totally transform the space to his own liking, getting it perfect for lockdown easing in May.

He said: "This is the first bar I've owned, I bought it in December 2019 but then obviously Coronavirus happened bt its been a silver lining in a way so I could slowly transform the space.

The front of the Townhouse on Duke Street

"I was keen for the bar to have its own identity and now that socialising has changed we are keen to keep and implement the table service seen elsewhere but that I reckon customers have really enjoyed."

It's added to night scene on Duke Street, with venues such as The Newsroom and Cinema Bar just a stone's throw away.

What's next?

It's understood other buildings – which are empty or for sale – are being eyed by business people who are keen to invest in St Helens leisure scene, so watch this space...

Longer-term we should find out more about the council's partnership with the English Cities Fund that will attempt to drive widespread regeneration.

Want to give some feedback on this story? Do you think there's a particular venue or theme we should be writing about? Or do you have plans in the pipeline that you want to share. Contact Andrew by email: andrew.kilmurray@nqnw.co.uk