Deansgate Mews unveils new look and announces retail lettings

Trilogy Real Estate has announced new lettings alongside a rebrand of Deansgate Mews which further consolidates the Mews’ reputation as a destination for independent hospitality and retail businesses at Manchester’s Great Northern.

A raft of independent businesses and restaurateurs let more than 5,000 sq ft of retail at Deansgate Mews in quarter two and three in 2021, with an additional 2,151 sq ft of retail and leisure lettings currently in the pipeline:

• The team behind Great Northern favourite 3 Hands Deli is soon to open Another Hand – a restaurant championing ‘produce-driven, minimal intervention, grower-to-chef-to-plate’ cooking by Chef Julian Pizer, formerly of Cottonopolis and The Edinburgh Castle.
• The Mews Bar and Charcuterie’s launched in August 2021. Offering a curated menu of cocktails, wine, beer and cured meats and cheeses from local supplier the Crafty Cheese Man. With a successful launch already under its belt, The Mews Bar and Charcuterie team are already making plans to extend their offering in the coming year.
• Manchester independent The Butcher’s Quarter has opened its second branch on Deansgate Mews. Styled as a European butcher shop, The Butcher’s Quarter stocks specialist meats, cheese, pies, wine, and deli items. The team hosts regular specialist food and wine events for locals.
• Low Four launched a 2,301 sq ft recording studio, teaching space and performance venue at the Mews in September 2021. The online music platform has previously worked with an impressive catalogue of acts, and has created a talent development scheme, providing free studio and production development time to help nurture promising artists in Manchester. With a bar run by craft-brewing superstars Cloudwater, Low Four complements Deansgate’s other audio-focused tenants, including Manchester Radio Online.

Trilogy has championed and supported local independent businesses at the Mews since 2016, and has acted as a first step on the physical retail ladder for many businesses, including makers, bakers and restaurants.

Longstanding tenants at Deansgate Mews include Dormouse Chocolates, an award-winning artisan chocolate maker, bakery Holy Grain, Siam Smiles, an authentic Thai restaurant, axe-throwing at Whistle Punks, and Lions Den, a social space for the public with live music, open mic events and retro games.

Businesses that have made use of flexible leases and attractive rents to establish themselves on Deansgate Mews have subsequently moved to bigger units elsewhere within the Great Northern to accommodate their growth.

Polish Restaurant Platzki traded on Deansgate Mews for three years before doubling the size of its unit with a move into a 1,012 sq ft unit on Deansgate in April 2021. Alex’s Bakery took its first retail unit on Deansgate Mews after establishing a brand at artisan markets and through a concession in a department store. After steady growth, Alex’s moved into a larger unit on Deansgate in 2020 and has taken additional space this month.

Laurence Jones, head of asset management at Trilogy, said: “Deansgate Mews has become a genuine hub for independent businesses and restaurateurs in Manchester city centre and its success reflects the hard work of our onsite team and the strong partnerships we have forged with our occupiers over the last few years.

3 Hands Deli

“The Mews provides a vibrant, creative atmosphere which provides both ‘first opportunities’ and the ‘chance to grow into longer term space.’

“Deansgate Mews has weathered the hard times bought about by the pandemic and we believe strongly in its future.

“Trilogy and Peterson’s investment in improving the visibility of Deansgate Mews reflects the importance of the Mews in our overall vision to create one of Manchester’s finest city centre destinations at the Great Northern.”

Led by the Great Northern’s head of marketing and place curation, Emma James, the revitalisation of Deansgate Mews has created a new identity, wayfinding, signage and public realm interventions that highlight the presence of the Mews behind the high street retail of Deansgate Terrace.

The highlight of the new identity is a set of floor paintings by the street artist Qubek that cover the stairways leading up from Deansgate, highlighting the activity and life of the mews above.