Ahead of its opening later this year, Factory International has announced its official food and drink partner for its landmark new home.
Manchester's flagship art centre has confirmed a brand new hospitality collective will be heading up all things food and beverage when it opens later this year. Super Serve represents a collaboration between established operators, Solitaire Restaurants and Square One, known for YES in Manchester and Ox Club in Leeds, as well as large-scale bar operations at festivals including Parklife.
Super Serve will look after areas of the venue including the ground floor foyer café and public bar, as well as two auditorium bars, providing a 'diverse' daytime and night-time offer. Menus will change seasonally, and the inaugural summer dishes will include brunch, grab-and-go and a late night street-style offering.
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Sheena Wrigley, Venue Director, Factory International says: “We are thrilled to be working with the newly formed Super Serve as our food and beverage partner. That two companies at the top of their game have come together to collaborate and created something new just for Factory International couldn’t be more fitting.
"Not only does the team bring a wealth of expertise as Solitaire and Square One and understanding of the Manchester and North West hospitality scene, but they also showed a real commitment to supporting our values including sustainability, community engagement, and accessible pricing. We are excited to be working together establishing a creative, eclectic, welcoming new social space and in a unique part of the city.”
Super Serve will also be previewing their food and drink offering during Manchester International Festival (MIF) this July ahead of a full roll-out when the £210m arts venue officially opens in October. They'll be working alongside other local traders, will also provide catering for the event's popular Festival Square, which this year relocates to the venues' new riverside public spaces for the first time.
Solitaire Restaurants has a twenty-year proven track record of successful independent food and drink establishments and is well known in Manchester for buzzing bar and music venue YES, which launched just off Oxford Road in 2018. They're also behind The Ox Club and Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds, as well as Nightcrawler in Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Square One is an independent North West operator which provides infrastructure for large-scale events, specialising in directing bar operations. The team has been involved with delivering large-scale support across major Northern festivals and events including The Depot at Mayfield, Creamfields, Parklife, Highest Point Festival, and The Garden Party.
Commenting on the news, Super Serve Manchester Managing Director Stevie Mulgrave said: ‘With many of the team starting their hospitality careers right here in Manchester before going on to work with some of the best independent operators throughout the North West, it’s an honour now to be chosen as the Food & Beverage partner for Factory International. Already billed by Time Out magazine as one of the best things to visit in 2023, we can’t wait to be a part of this amazing project in the heart of our city.’
Solitaire Director of Operations Gemma Hampton-Stone added: ‘We’ll be taking our inspiration from dining tables across Manchester. We’re interested in working with the local community to deliver a diverse and accessible offer; working alongside suppliers who have the highest regard for sustainability and animal welfare and engaging in non-intensive and traditional techniques to create some of the best tasting and highest quality products around. We’re looking forward to presenting a seasonally changing menu that reflects the vibrancy the area has to offer.’
Designed in the form of a gigantic hangar, the £210m facility is being built on the former Granada TV Studios site and is expected to attract 1.15m visitors a year. Programmed and operated by Factory International, the team behind Manchester International Festival, the new venue will host a year-round programme of creative work, music and special events - from intimate concerts to immersive installations.
Audiences will be invited to preview the new landmark cultural space during MIF, which returns across the city from 29 June to 16 July. The venue’s official opening will be in October with the production 'Free Your Mind', a large-scale immersive performance based on The Matrix films created by Danny Boyle, Es Devlin and the co-founders of Olivier Award-winning Boy Blue.
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