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Here is the Nottinghamian from Tuesday, February 28.
Hello,
Before we get started on today's edition of the Nottinghamian, I want to say thank you for subscribing and joining me every day. Unfortunately, this will be the final Nottinghamian newsletter. I have really enjoyed bringing you the latest daily Nottingham news and hope you have enjoyed receiving it.
In this edition, we will take a look at a pie maker's successful opening weekend which resulted in customers queuing around the block. We will also take a look at an architect's speculative plans for the former Debenhams building as well as a new opening on Bridlesmith Gate. Plus one city centre building has been ranked one of the ugliest in the UK, can you guess which one it might be?
Blown away
Pie maker Dan Lione has been blown away with the response to his new shop. Customers were queueing around the block on opening day last weekend to sample the wares at Project Pies in Carlton.
And again this week shoppers waited in line to buy one of his mouth-watering pies and sausage rolls that started as a venture during the pandemic lockdown. The first day was non-stop and a sell-out success and Dan hopes demand will continue.
He said: "It was brilliant, absolutely amazing. It took me massively by surprise. I was here all night, Friday baking. I was planning to open Sunday but I didn't get that far as I'd sold out just after 2pm. I'd baked about 400 pies. I'm really blown away. It's a dream come true having the shop. It's something a bit different." Read more here.
Potential change
The former Debenhams building in Nottingham is a landmark structure in the heart of the city centre. When the retailer finally closed its doors in May 2021 following the firm's administration, the huge Grade II listed building was left empty and with an uncertain future.
While some locations have since welcomed new tenants, Nottingham's high-profile site remains empty and subject to much speculation about what it would or come become. It was recently reported that Longmead Capital, a London-based investment management firm, had approached the city council to discuss future plans. However, Longmead Capital has warned that drawing up plans for the future will be a "lengthy process".
In the meantime, Hockley based architects GT3 has been considering what it thinks the building could be redesigned to provide for the local community. Its re-imagining is not part of the Longmead discussions and is purely speculative, intended, according to the firm, to "provoke real discussion" around the building's future.
The concept divides the spaces to offer something different across the various levels, including a food hall, boutique shops, a high-end hotel, office space, a media centre, residential housing, a hospitality pavilion and a public roof terrace. The smaller building next door on Long Row would then become a pub and cultural centre, The Mikado, in reference to a café building which stood adjacent some 70 years before.
Weather and trivia
Weather: Another cloudy day with scattered showers on Wednesday. Still feeling chilly in the breeze. Maximum temperature 8 °C.
UV: Low
Further reading: Environmental campaigners spray fake oil on offices of multinational law firm in Nottingham
Trivia question: The University of Nottingham student’s union was the location for which band's first ever gig?
The answer to today's trivia question is at the bottom of the newsletter.
International addition
Bridlesmith Gate will soon have a new addition as an international salon with 'top stylists' is set to open. Described as a "cutting-edge" men’s grooming salon, director of Menspire Seamus O'Keeffe, says he will be "bringing four or five top men’s stylists" with him to Nottingham.
The has more than 20 branches in locations including Amsterdam, Dublin, Budapest, Watford, Aberdeen and Naples. 26-year-old Seamus already runs the firm’s salon in Anstey, Leicester, and counts a number of Premier League footballers among his list of regular clients.
Explaining the concept of the business, Seamus said: “Focusing as we do on precision barbering with diverse creativity and tailor-made client consultations to find out exactly what they want, we are confident we will go down well in Nottingham. And we just love the new buzz in Bridlesmith Gate.”
Following the decline of the once top end designer street, the area has began its turnaround following ALB's purchase of 11 retail buildings and the introduction of "cheaper and more flexible rent agreements". ALB managing director Arran Bailey, said: “The dream to revitalise this area of my hometown with independent, specialist and high-quality businesses has been coming together nicely over the past year or so. To add an amazing, international brand like Menspire to the list really is icing on the cake. It’s a real coup for Nottingham.”
Ugly building
'Experts' have claimed Nottingham's Victoria Centre is one of the UK's ugliest buildings. The 1960s building sits on the site of a former railway station and is one of the best-known buildings in the city.
ParrotPrint.com, a UK art, photography and printing company, has now drawn up a list of the UK's 10 ugliest buildings, which includes the Victoria Centre. They said: "This well-known shopping centre in the heart of Nottingham city centre stands on the site of the previous railway station which was demolished in the late-1960s.
"Just the hotel and clock tower remains of the old, charming architecture and was replaced by the unattractive, concrete shopping centre." Other buildings to be featured on the list include the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the Belfast City Hospital in Northern Ireland.
That's all for now
Thank you for joining me for today's edition of The Nottinghamian. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did why not sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every weekday by clicking here.
The answer to today's trivia question, The University of Nottingham student’s union was the location for which band's first ever gig, is Paul McCartney and Wings – on February 9, 1972
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