AshbyCapital, the real estate investment advisor, has appointed The Genuine Dining Co. to operate the new coffee house on the ground floor of The Colmore Building, its office property in Birmingham city centre’s main business district.
The Genuine Dining Co. is backed by Luke Johnson, the entrepreneur whose other business interests include Gail’s Artisan Bakery, Eclectic Bars PLC, Feng Sushi, 3Sixty Restaurants, The Draft House, Grand Union and Small Batch Coffee, and who was formerly Chairman of Pizza Express, and founder of both Strada and Signature Restaurants, which owned the Ivy, J.Sheekey and Le Caprice.
The café will be called &More Coffee House. The offer will consist of freshly brewed barista-style coffee, breakfast, lunch and hot and cold drinks and snacks. &More’s menu will include freshly ground single-origin coffees from artisan suppliers, a range of teas including herbal, fruit, Earl Grey and English Breakfast, juices and smoothies, porridge, artisan bread and pastries, homemade soups, gourmet sandwiches, delicious and healthy salads, classic and vegetarian hot dishes, and hot and cold snacks including homemade quiches, tarts, scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pies.
The café space is around 1,000 sq ft and includes an external terrace. It will have state-of-the-art iPad till systems and a striking, modern look and feel, in line with the new branding of The Colmore Building, the refurbished reception area and newly added facilities. The addition of a coffee house within the building is part of a £3.5 million enhancement programme which will also see the creation of a gym, treatment rooms, bicycle parking, luxury changing rooms and a drying room, giving The Colmore Building Birmingham’s most comprehensive offering of on-site amenities.
The Colmore Building, which provides 310,000 sq ft of grade A space over 14 storeys, is home to tenants including Allianz, Grant Thornton, Investec, Marsh and Vodafone. It is able to accommodate lettings of up to 104,000 sq ft across efficient and flexible floor plates of 23,000 sq ft.
Peter Ferrari, Chief Executive of AshbyCapital, said:
“The &More Coffee House will provide an important new amenity for occupants at The Colmore Building, bringing new and different breakfast, lunch and drinks options and offering the perfect place for breakfast, a coffee, or an informal meeting or working lunch. We look forward to the café opening this spring, coinciding with the completion of our exciting wider enhancement programme at the building.”
Chris Mitchell Director at The Genuine Dining CO. , said:
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with AshbyCapital to provide a modern, high street food offering at The Colmore Building. AshbyCapital felt that our mission of delivering great food, great service and having a load of fun in the process was most aligned with their strategic goals for the building. We are looking forward to working together to do just that.”
Agents for The Colmore Building are Bilfinger GVA and JLL.