What can Birmingham’s bars, restaurants and cafes do to attract more customers?

The past few months have seen many prestigious venue launches and revamps across the city - such as All Bar One in Brindleyplace, Orelle on Colmore Row and Vinoteca in Chamberlain Square - despite the cost of living crisis placing real pressure on the hospitality industry.

In fact Birmingham has been named the UK’s ‘most vibrant city’ in a new report which cites the hospitality industry as the key driver for powering recovery from the COVID pandemic, according to research experts CGA. Birmingham beat Glasgow and Manchester to the top spot, with London only making number 10.

As venues strive to be competitive at a time where people are feeling the pinch, and many still opt to stay at home, we ask Brummies what they believe venues could offer to get them out of the house for a night on the town.

Ilhan Ozeren, General Manager at All Bar One, says: “Well obviously it’s a tough time for everyone at the moment. You see in the news every day, what’s going on, the struggles people are having. That’s why we have to make sure our offer’s perfect so when our guests do come they’re having the best experience. They’re looked after well and treated like a family member.”

Aldo Zilli, who joined Lucarelli Restaurants to launch their new venue Emporio Atari in Touchwood recently, says: “To attract new customers nowadays, it’s not something that - there’s not an obvious trick to attract new customers. It’s, you know, it’s about food. It’s about service. It’s about comfort. It’s about the, you know, the venue, what you’re going to offer. It’s about the wow factor, and you’ll have to be present. You have to look after your customers. Otherwise, why would they come?”

So what to the customers think? We spoke to people in Birmingham about their top tips to help hospitality businesses to thrive. Craig says: “That’s a tricky one… probably diversify? If you’re open of evenings - maybe open in the afternoon for cafes. Maybe community centres? Maybe become art galleries during the day and show gigs at night? I did hear something on the radio recently by Mark Reilly that musical venues could do afternoon gigs and different matinee shows.”

Tim says: “I think probably they need a bit of support centrally as well - that’s reduction in levees and that side of things. Just to help the businesses be more sustainable. We pride ourselves in Birmingham on independent businesses. They really make the city more vibrant. So anything to help them stop them having an entry into the market. I think also partnerships with local transport operators would be an excellent idea as well. A scheme that helps people travel into the city at a discounted rate.”

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