Independent bar operator Ma Pub Group has announced that it has agreed terms for the former Hus café bar unit in Capital & Centric’s Tempest Building on Tithebarn Street in Liverpool.

Ma Pub Group is headed by operator Iain Hoskins, which also runs the historic Ma Boyle’s Alehouse & Eatery pub that celebrated its 150th Birthday last year. Two other locations, Ma Egerton’s Stage Door and Bøck Biere Café (Manchester) were recently sold from the estate.

The stunning unit spans over 5000sf across ground floor and a basement events space, with an imposing frontage which also compromises a roof terrace that was the highlight of the site when it previously operated as Hus.

The new venture is to be called Tempest on Tithebarn, with a heavy nod to New York’s meatpacking district eateries, focusing heavily on brunches, lunches, cocktails and craft beer. A provisional Easter opening has been suggested dependent on lockdown restrictions, but Hoskins is keen to take full advantage of the outside and roof-top space with good weather while social distancing will be in place.

Iain Hoskins said:

“The café bar unit at the Tempest building is an incredible space, with the addition of some fantastic outside areas that are an absolute premium for the times we are living in right now. Tempest on Tithebarn will be an exciting addition for the business community, with which we already have a longstanding relationship, having run Ma Boyle’s locally for the past six years.

This project has been nearly a year in the making as negotiations started just prior to the first national lockdown last year. We had every intention of opening last summer but with Covid-19 that obviously didn’t happen. When allowed, we traded very well with Ma Boyle’s, despite the constantly changing restrictions, which has given us confidence with Tempest. Liverpool’s a really resilient city and hospitality one of its main industries. I have no doubt it will bounce back, it will be tough, but it will.

The Tempest Building boasts some incredible creative companies, and the building is a real hub sitting alongside the many new developments in the commercial district. The lack of footfall created by the pandemic is a worry and will continue to be so until we fully know that we have beaten Covid-19 and office staffing levels return to normal. However, as we’ve found with Ma Boyle’s, the weekday office trade is actually only one of many parts that will make up our core audience. At its heart, great food, coffee and drinks, along with the incredible homely service that have made people keep coming back to Ma Boyle’s is what will drive this new business.”

The new venture is likely to employ up to a mixture of 40 part and full-time staff with a refurb budget of circa £250,000.

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