There is a lot to be excited about for 2020, not least the announcement before Christmas that Club Mexicana Taqueria have taken a permanent restaurant in Carnaby’s Kingly Court.

Club Mexicana’s mouthwatering tacos are both innovative and moreish and, completely unbelievably, totally vegan. They are a superb example of the new, high benchmark of quality for plant-based cuisine. We know that they will be a huge hit when they open their doors in a few months.

Our Head of Brand Representation, Nick Garston, advised Club Mexicana on the acquisition and commented:

“Club Mex are really at the pinnacle of what is exciting about plant-based food in the current London restaurant scene. They have a loyal following by meat and non-meat eaters alike who I know will be as excited as me to see them take this permanent space in the heart of the West End.”

For more information on the letting or Club Mexicana’s requirements, please contact Nick Garston.

After going back home to Yorkshire for the weekend and deciding what to do, a dog walk was definitely on the cards. To spice it up a little we decided to make the hours’ drive to the seaside in order to visit the award-winning Riley’s Fish Shack, a venture which started in 2012 as a street food bicycle stall. It has since evolved into a semi-portable fish bar & grill located in two converted shipping containers at King Edwards Bay in Tynemouth.

The concept is simple: a restaurant serving fresh and truly delicious fish & seafood, located just 200 yards from the waves. This honest, no-frills approach couldn’t be more perfect for this part of the country where integrity and no-nonsense is a way of life.

The beach at King Edwards Bay is filled with happiness, dogs, deckchairs, firepits and blankets. It takes seconds to see how popular Riley’s is as queues of people spiral around the beach desperately peering to see the blackboard of the daily specials.

The menu is forever changing and the fish landed locally is by catch, therefore much of the fish sourced is sustainable in its own right. Catch dependent specials are announced daily on the chalk board and served alongside regular chargrilled offerings of lobster, surf ‘n’ turf, monkfish, craster kippers, squid and mackerel.

A few years ago, I had the most unbelievable barbequed fish in Langkawi, Malaysia at floating fish restaurant so Riley’s had a lot to live up to. However, this definitely topped my expectations, proving you don’t have to travel 6,000 miles to grab the best fresh catch! My choice of lobster was served with homemade wood fired flatbread, fresh lime slaw and patatas bravas, which was truly delicious.

This does show that simplicity is sometimes enough and that a visit Riley’s Fish Shack is a ‘must’ if you ever find yourself in the North East of England!

After much anticipation, Sub Cult are now open at 82 Watling Street, part of Landsec’s One New Change development. To celebrate the opening, free subs were given out to the lucky first 200 customers. The new store is the first permanent site for the brand which was founded five years ago and has previously traded from shipping containers, London street markets and a pub residency. They have gained a huge cult following across their social platforms and received numerous awards and accolades including being named by Time Out as ‘Top 10 Street traders’ three times, and ‘London’s ultimate sandwiches’ twice.

The sandwiches are inspired by the New York original and are made fresh to order. Historically the brand has worked with Michelin –star chefs to create unique and delectable fillings. Their menu at One New Change will include their signature Rodeo (bavette steak, truffle mayo and parmesan), the Skandi (oak smoked salmon, cream cheese and beetroot kimchi) and an exclusive new sub combining roasted chicken, ham hock, garlic aioli with a cheddar and chive crumb. The shop will also serve morning pastries from family-run east end bakery ‘Rinkoff’s’, and sweets from fellow street food sellers ‘A Pie Party’.

Bruce Gillingham Pollard acted for the landlord, Landsec, and the letting follows recent new openings in the scheme Monica Vinader, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs and the fitness brand Whatever it Takes.

Charlotte Roberts commented:

“It is very exciting that Sub Cult have chosen One New Change as the location for their much anticipated first permanent store. They are a fun, fresh brand whose incredible sandwiches add a new dimension to the food offer currently in the development. The letting follows on from many other City ‘firsts’ within the scheme which is in line with our strategy for One New Change to bring a unique and vibrant retail and F&B mix to the City market.”

For more information, please contact Charlotte Roberts.

Vinoteca has confirmed it has exchanged on a unit at 2 Chamberlain Square, in the Birmingham’s Paradise development. We are proud to have acted on behalf of the landlord on this letting that will add to the company’s existing 5 strong business.

Set to open its doors for early Spring 2020, The 3,390 sq ft site fronts Chamberlain Square and Centenary Way, and will be open for all-day trading seven days a week. Vinoteca combines high quality, characterful wine with a selection of paired dishes created from fresh and seasonal produce.

With their first store opening in 2005 in Farringdon, which has over the years been followed by new restaurants and wine bars in Marylebone, Chiswick, King’s Cross and the City, but this will be their first restaurant outside of London.

For more information, please contact Victoria Broadhead.

For a fantastic example both social responsibility and sustainability we need look no further than New York’s The RealReal. Situated on Wooster Street in New York’s Soho, CEO Julie Wainwright started the business online from her kitchen table, visiting customers to collect their resale items with a truck. Her website went on to become America’s premiere luxury resale site and now has two concept stores in the US; in New York and LA. Both are a completely immersive celebration of artists, designers and quality craftsmanship and a delight to visit.

In its inspiring New York store, The RealReal sets out to revolutionise the luxury consumer experience. A team of 100+ expert authenticators inspect all items for resale to ensure they are real and on finishing with them, customers are actively encouraged to re-consign them and extend the item’s life.

Along with H&M, The RealReal is a member of the Ellen McArthur Foundation’s CE100. The CE100 are companies who support a circular economy, which is about utilizing items for as long as possible and getting the maxiumum value out of quality goods.

They are also partnered with Stella McCartney, meaning customers who consign a Stella McCartney item get $100 to spend at a Stella McCartney retail store.

The stats for this flourishing new sector are very encouraging. The resale market share is predicted to have risen from $20billion to $41billion by 2022; a growth of 15%, while retail apparel is predicted to grow by just 2%. To date, the RealReal has sold more than 6 million pre-owned items; a brilliant result for the world’s landfills.

Bearing all this in mind, I felt compelled to buy my wife a new handbag….(not sure I’m going to tell my daughter about it yet though)!

Backyard Cinema was created to provide somewhere cool, where you can watch your favourite films with great food, drinks and friends.

What gave you the idea to first screen a film in your back garden?

It was a passion project. The very first time was something I organised with my friends, purely for fun. A projector had been left behind after a house party and so I decided to use it, along with a bedsheet, and some recycled wood to create a screen. It definitely wasn’t the classiest affair, all the furniture was taken outside into the garden, we set up a sound system and together it created a big screening.

Following from that, what came next? Was it a conscious decision to go more commercial, or was it a more organic experience?

It was definitely more organic. After the first screening, I hosted several more events with friends in my garden but it was becoming expensive supplying the food and drink etc, and so I wanted expand outside of my garden and start selling tickets for it.

For the first pop-up I came up with the name Backyard Cinema, created a website and secured a venue on Great Eastern Street, it was a dingy, yet very moody and cool, candle lit basement. Selling around 30 tickets, I was only expecting friends to turn up, but it was when I realised a couple of people came who had bought online, that I realised it could really become something.

The second residency was at Beach Blanket Babylon in their attic, we had an agreement to screen one film a week, for 6 weeks. Astonishingly, we were featured in The Nudge, and as a result the tickets all sold out within 1 hour. That was the turning point when the business really took off.

In both retail and leisure there has been a strong consumer demand for experiential, engaging experiences – have you found this to increase the success of backyard cinema?

Yes we have, but this was always the ethos behind Backyard Cinema, the whole ‘experience’ was at the core of the brand from the very start. Even with the size of the business now, our customers should always feel like they have been invited into my garden, the same as when we began. People have always commented on the atmosphere. We want people to feel relaxed, if it is their birthday we want to make them feel special, if they are unhappy about their seat then we will just move it. It’s about creating fun and escapism, and that’s what has allowed us to succeed and grow.

Do you think more traditional cinemas will need to diversify and increase their offering to survive such a competitive market, especially in London?

Yes, customers today demand and deserve more and if operators aren’t fulfilling this, they will go elsewhere. We have even been asked to consult for some theme park and ballet companies on how to improve and increase their services.

Which has been your most successful event / film and what do you think contributed to its success?

All of our events we would consider a success; Romeo and Juliet is a sell out every time but our other pop-ups also do staggeringly well. I think this is credit to the research and planning alongside the passion behind what we do.

Do you have any plans to expand outside London?

We are considering expanding the business outside London, but rather than regional cities we are instead potentially looking further afield, possibly into Europe, such as Amsterdam. We want to be part of the most exciting cites on the planet, as well as growing our sites in London.

What attracts you to a venue?

Finding a venue is the hardest thing. The most important factor is size and the structure of the building, whether it has lots of pillars which will obstruct the space. We are first and foremost a cinema, so site lines and the quality of viewing is crucial. Of course as the brand has grown so have the size requirements of our venues.

Typically for our pop-up venues we select old buildings which will be knocked down at some stage.  This means the theme and the venue are very much temporary, creating a romance to the event, that you will never be able to experience watching that film, in that space ever again once its gone. Creating lasting memories.

As a young entrepreneur yourself, what advice would you give other young entrepreneurs hoping to start up?

Just do it, if you have a passion for something, go for it. Four years ago I was working in telephone marketing and today we are selling over 100,000 tickets a year.

Your first permanent fixture is at Mercato Metropolitano in Borough, do you think there are pros and cons to having a permanent site?

This is a definite benefit, we describe it as having ‘the exciting element of a pop-up in a permanent venue’.

What exciting events will you be launching next?

This Christmas season, starting from mid/late November we have residency at both Winter Wonderland and Winterville – our two biggest events to date, running simultaneously! At Winter Wonderland we are screening The Snowman which potentially will attract 3 generations of families to Backyard Cinema, which is essentially a new market of people we haven’t catered for previously. Winterville will be playing a range of classics including winter favourites Home Alone, Frozen and The Nightmare before Christmas.

www.backyardcinema.co.uk

As a company we are forever seeking out the latest trends, innovation and unique concepts which we can take inspiration from, this we partly achieve through regularly visiting other cities and countries around the world.  Most recently, our travels took us to Lisbon; Portugal’s coastal capital and one of the oldest cities in the world, predating London, Paris and Rome.

One of the oldest cosmetics stores in Lisbon; Benamôr, was founded in 1925 earning the reputation of being one of Portugal’s most beloved beauty brands, yet is still relatively unknown to the UK.

The store itself is unassuming from outside. Its solid stone frontage and large window are beautiful, but it isn’t until you take a look inside where you appreciate its modern, monochrome interior, rustic wooden pillars and historic arches, reflecting the simple yet warm feeling of Lisbon.  The black and white patterned tiles, work in harmony with the white wooden cupboards, white marble worktops and pendant lighting. The store is full of colour but it is the products that create this, cleverly using the monochrome interior to showcase and enhance its products.

Since adopting its art deco branding from conception, its iconic style, bright colours and patterns which adorn its packaging have remained the same. Commonly, brands try to evolve their cosmetics to fit with the ever-demanding consumer, but Benamôr have always had belief in what they offer and many of their products remain the same as when they were first created. The brand offers a refreshing contrast to ever-changing clinical brands we know too well in London.