Entrepreneurs invest £850,000 in new Birmingham cocktail bar

A NEW cocktail bar opens its doors in Birmingham for the first time this evening.

Be At One Cocktail Bar has been set up in a former snooker hall in the Piccadilly Arcade following an £850,000 investment.

While this is the company’s first venture into Birmingham, it has been trading for almost 20 years.

It was founded by three bartenders; Steve Locke, Rhys Oldfield and Leigh Miller. Since the opening of the first bar in Battersea Rise in May 1998 it has gone on to open a further 30.

The Birmingham outlet is the 31st in the company’s portfolio and the 12th outside London. At 4,000 sq ft it is also one of the larger ones in the group.

Nevertheless, the city isn’t completely unknown to the trio as Rhys Oldfield began his career working at TGI Fridays on the Hagley Road, until he realised things were just as interesting from behind a desk rather than a bar.

Steve Locke said: “Rhys kept telling us how good the city was and why we should move here. He has been keeping an eye on things but we never made the move before because we could never seem to find the right venue.

“We had looked at Broad Street and The Mailbox but neither seemed quite right for us.
“We like to work on the edge of the business district and this is why our location here suits us perfectly.”

The cocktail bar’s arrival has created 18 new jobs and the team is all home-grown and hired for their personalities as much as their skills.

“All our bartenders get nine weeks training and apart from making the drinks, are trained to make eye contact with each customer within a minute of them arriving at the bar,” said Mr Locke.

The group has a specific customer model and therefore it does not serve draft beers, food or show live sports events.

It is hoping that office workers heading back to New Street Station at the end of the working day will find refuge there.