A raft of new restaurant and bar openings is set to create more than 250 new leisure jobs in Sunderland this summer.
The city’s hospitality scene has already been given a boost so far this year with new arrivals including The Botanist, Manjaros and Sea Glass Cafe. Now a fresh wave of new venues have launched recruitment drives ahead of opening their doors over the coming weeks and months and city chiefs say the new leisure sites will create in excess of 250 jobs, providing a major jobs boost to the city centre.
One of the major contributors is the £4m Sheepfolds Stables development, based at the faithfully restored former railway stables at Riverside Sunderland, which opens on August 2 after a two-year project driven forward by Sunderland architects Building Design Northern (BDN) Ltd.
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The drink, music and food destination brings together a host of independent bars and restaurants including Ember, Mother Mercy, The Calabash Tree, I Scream for Pizza, Spey Snug, Deep North and Vito’s Osteria, while creating more than 100 jobs and more through the supply chain.
General manager of operations, Nigel Wood, said: “It’s been a couple of years in the making; however we are all incredibly excited to finally throw open our doors to the public next month. All of our vendors are already recruiting and training their teams and at the last count, we estimated that it would create around 100 jobs. But that doesn’t even factor in the supply chain, such as cleaners, jobs at suppliers and security etc, which will see that number rise furthermore as we get up and running.”
Sheepfolds Stables is set to be joined by city venues The 3 Stories, Flower Café, Pablo Eggsgobao, The Sofia, The Muddler, The Hideout Bar and RIO Steakhouse, which is preparing to open its doors in the former Bud Biggalow’s site in October, creating around 45 jobs.
Rodrigo Grassi-Duarte, co-founder and co-director, said: “We are looking forward to finally opening our Sunderland venue later this year. We will be starting the recruitment process over the coming weeks as we look to hire vital team members ahead of the restaurant opening. We work hard to train and look after our staff, maintaining the high standards of customer service the RIO brand is renowned for. Creating around 45 jobs, we are hopeful it will provide a huge boost to local people and we can’t wait to get started.”
Coun Kevin Johnston, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Business at Sunderland City Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many new bars and restaurants opening and creating jobs for local people. Much has been made of the UK’s hospitality sector and the many challenges facing it recently, however Sunderland is really bucking industry and national trends.
“We’ve had several new venues open this year and The Botanist alone attracted over 30,000 visitors in its first two months. Add to that the numerous new venues set to open over the coming months and the wider transformation of the city, including Riverside Sunderland and the future certainly looks bright for the sector in the city.”
