Axe throwing centre to open in Nottingham city centre

A former shoe shop in Nottingham it set to be turned into an “urban axe throwing” centre.

Hatchet Harry’s is setting up its fifth UK venue in Nottingham’s Lister Gate, in a unit previously occupied by Shoezone.

The site is one of a number of buildings in Lister Gate that have been acquired by Nottingham-based ALB Group, which is also behind the regeneration of nearby Bridlesmith Gate.

Hatchet Harry’s, which started in Newcastle in May 2019 and has other venues in Glasgow, Liverpool and Aberdeen, had been looking for a suitable venue in Nottingham for the past two years.

Axe throwing was traditionally a popular Canadian pastime handed down by the country’s lumberjacks.

Jack Beadle, who founded Hatchet Harry’s with business partner Richard Bridge, said: “We’ve looked at a number of venues in Nottingham, but we’d not found anything suitable until this one in Lister Gate came up.

“We decided that the footfall here is going to be a big plus, and when we heard about what ALB was doing to regenerate this area of Nottingham, it really piqued our interest.

“That, combined with the regeneration of the Broadmarsh area, makes it the perfect location for our latest Hatchet Harry’s venue.”

The Nottingham venue will have four cages where people can compete with each other to throw wooden-handled axes into a target.

Arran Bailey, managing director of ALB, said: “Being a Nottingham group of companies, ALB is totally committed to doing what we can to help regenerate the city centre.

“There’s been a lot of disruption in the Lister Gate area, with the Broadmarsh redevelopment and, of course, the devastation brought about by Covid-19.

“But we have big plans to breathe new life into the area, and we’re convinced that exciting new concepts like Hatchet Harry’s will add some real sparkle and interest to this part of Nottingham.”

FHP Property Consultants brokered the deal on behalf of ALB.