Local hospitality head aims to make pub ‘perfect accompaniment’ to Bold Street offering
The Newington Temple bar has been acquired by local hospitality operators Ma Pub Group, with its director promising a ‘perfect accompaniment’ to Bold Street.
The Bold Street bar, which will become the group’s fourth city centre site alongside the likes of Ma Boyle’s Alehouse & Eatery, will see £150,000 of investment and be returned to its centuries-old incarnation as a traditional ‘wet-lead’ pub.
Operating for nearly two centuries as a traditional pub, the site has in recent decades taken on various forms including Old Rope Walks and Bier.
In this time Bold Street has taken on a burgeoning reputation as a key hospitality spot in the city centre thanks to an array of restaurants and bars, something Director of Ma Pub Group, Iain Hoskins, wants to compliment with the rebooted pub.
Iain said: “Having started with my first wet-led pub 13 years ago, Ma Egerton's Stage Door, and since then opening food-led hospitality businesses, I feel like I've come full circle with Newington Temple. Pubs are back in a massive way and Liverpool is leading the renaissance for not only all the new openings, but the diversity in the styles of pub-outlets - most of them independently owned and operated. There's a classic pub aesthetic that appeals to almost everyone that is both timeless and cozy and feels very much what people want now.
“Newington will definitely have that classic Victorian pub feel, but with an edge like you would see in some of current sites like Ma Boyle's and Nova Scotia and like those its appeal will be completely cross-generational. I'm thrilled to have a site in my favourite street in the world and what we offer with Newington will be the perfect accompaniment to the incredible restaurants that make Bold Street one of the most unique streets in Britain.
“While the trading environment has been tough with huge on-going challenges, I'm proud that our existing sites continue to grow their sales and reputation amid these choppy times. Newington Temple is a great addition to our portfolio.”
The site is set to re-open in mid-March following renovation works, with the group saying 15 new jobs will also be created.
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