One company has transformed the look of New Brighton’s Victoria Road and it is now set to go even further.
Rockpoint Leisure’s campaign to make New Brighton a thriving town which people can be proud of has seen it open restaurants and bars, and support tattooists and hairdressers, among other things in recent years.
Now, the man who runs Rockpoint Leisure, Daniel Davies, is transforming an old supermarket building to bring something new to the area he loves.
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Mr Davies told the ECHO about his plans.
He said: “The building has been [various supermarkets] over the years and they’ve all failed.
“One thing everyone hates is seeing a big derelict building. So we’re trying to repurpose these buildings, make them sustainable and give opportunities to independent businesses.”
In recent years, Rockpoint Leisure has opened The James Atherton Pub, restaurant Habibi and Rockpoint Records, which has a bar but also features a hairdressers, a tattoo artist and a record store at the back of the ground floor and upstairs.
But Mr Davies’ main goal at the moment is what he calls Hope Anti-Super Supermarket, the former supermarket building at the corner of Victoria Road.
He added: “[So far] we’ve had amateur dramatics, comedy nights and seating and standing concerts there [at Hope].”
Moving forward, more events are planned at Hope, with the Rockpoint team also open to other potential uses of the space in the daytime.
Last year, for instance, Hope hosted a market where among other things artist’s portraits and photographer’s works were sold, proving how much of a diverse offering Hope could provide for New Brighton.
Mr Davies is driving his new project forward, despite being recently diagnosed with cancer.
Posting on Twitter earlier this week, he said: "After spending the last two months in-and-out of hospital, I have the diagnosis. Hodgkin Lymphoma.
"On the 26th I start 6 months of chemo. I might miss some meetings but my commitment to Institute of Licensing, UK Hospitality, Together and New Brighton is solid.
"New Brighton keeps me up at night, not cancer."
Support for Mr Davies flooded in after the post. One person wrote: "You’re a brave warrior Dan and I know you’ll continue with all the love and support of so many around you. Always here buddy."
Indeed, Mr Davies retains a clear vision for the New Brighton of the future.
Speaking about this, Mr Davies said: “We don’t want to gentrify it, we want to make it a place for local people, where they can be happy and proud of where they come from.
“We want to make sure people who live in New Brighton don’t need to move away, because they’ve got everything on their doorstep.”
In terms of events, next Saturday, January 29, music event Micro Festevol will be taking place at Hope Anti-Super Supermarket.
It features live sets from five acts including Razzmatazz, Zuzu and The Dream Machine.
Should Hope be successful, this could be just one of many events bringing a huge amount of life, culture and prosperity to a seaside town once written off by many.
