{"id":2115993,"date":"2026-08-21T12:22:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?p=2115993"},"modified":"2026-08-21T12:22:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:22:48","slug":"digbeth-new-independent-openings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2115993-digbeth-new-independent-openings","title":{"rendered":"Digbeth welcomes wave of new independent openings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Birmingham&#8217;s Digbeth has seen a run of new independent openings in recent months, spanning food, retail, coffee, entertainment and events.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alfredworks.co.uk\/\">Alfred Works,<\/a> a new food hall in the Custard Factory&#8217;s courtyard, houses a range of independent kitchens and bars alongside a co-working space offering unlimited tea and coffee for \u00a36 a day between 8am and 8pm.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In the Zellig building, The Goth&#8217;s Playground has opened a permanent store after several years running pop-up markets across the city, selling jewellery, clothing and taxidermy from a range of alternative traders.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Owners Jordan and Curtis said Digbeth&#8217;s community-focused, alternative identity made it a natural home for the queer-owned business.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The same building has also welcomed The Pinball Factory, a not-for-profit space with more than 25 machines run entirely by volunteers, with proceeds going towards rent, maintenance and acquiring further machines, and Volt Barbershop, which moved in last year.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On Gibb Street, opposite the Custard Factory, world barista champion Dale Harris has opened Ithaka Coffee, a sustainability-focused business roasting, brewing and serving coffee on site.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On Upper Trinity Street, The Drop Inn has launched as a warehouse events space aimed at Birmingham&#8217;s underground and alternative music scene, featuring a half-pipe skate ramp, stage and vintage market.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Michelle Irving, general manager of Zellig, said the new openings reflected continued momentum in Digbeth, with the area remaining a place where creativity and independent business could thrive even amid ongoing development and construction in the surrounding neighbourhood.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The wave of openings comes despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2115431-digbeth-businesses-warn-of-closures-over-midlands-rail-hub-expansion-plans\">warnings from other Digbeth businesses<\/a> earlier this month, after campaigners said more than 25 independent venues could be at risk from Midlands Rail Hub Alliance proposals to widen the Bordesley Viaduct.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Birmingham&#8217;s Digbeth has seen a run of new independent openings in recent months, spanning food, retail, coffee, entertainment and events<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284306,"featured_media":2115995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47995],"coauthors":[137138],"class_list":["post-2115993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail","tag-greater-birmingham"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Digbeth welcomes wave of new independent openings | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Birmingham&#039;s Digbeth has seen a run of new independent openings in recent months, spanning food, retail, coffee, entertainment and events\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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