pubnews
Belfast restaurant expands with new cocktail bar
BY JOHN MULGREW
A
Belfast restaurant and hotel which opened less than a year ago is already expanding with a new cocktail bar creating 20 jobs. Town Square on Botanic Avenue has quickly become a popular spot for food fans, students and coffee drinkers after opening up at the Crescent Townhouse last year. The hotel, restaurant and bar was formerly owned by pub chain Wine Inns, but was taken over by businessman Peter Ringland. Now, following the success of the venture, he’s opening a large 80-seater bar, featuring craft beer and cocktails. “It will create up to 20 jobs. It’s adjacent to the cafe and in the place of the old Metro bar,” said Ringland. “We are carrying through the theme from Town Square, and some of the ideas from places like Shoreditch in London and San Francisco.” Ringland said it will be targeting an age group of between 20 and 40. Liam McAuley, Peter Ringland and Nathan Reid The new bar is being designed by Terry Design, which did work on the outside Town Square restaurant in Belfast existing café and restaurant. Ringland said his venue has been “pretty much full every day” for lunch since it opened. “The first year has been great, and that’s why we are expanding,” he said. “We had a great summer with the tourists and now the students are coming back. “The café is pretty much full every day. We will have a good cocktail offering, craft beer and wine.” And Ringland said customers had been positive about Town Square. “It’s been amazing. We are doing pretty well on Tripadvisor and we also have a big following on Instagram.”
Belfast bar Cuckoo undergoes £450,000 revamp L
James O’Donnell, manager of Cuckoo, joins Beannchor Group’s Conall Wosley to celebrate the launch of the newly-renovated Lisburn Road bar.
isburn Road bar Cuckoo has undergone a £450,000 refurbishment, with the Beannchor Group-owned venue adding two new bars, a new stage and dance floor and increased seating, as well as a new entertainment line-up and cocktail menu. Planning permission has also been granted, meanwhile, to extend the bar to include a new beer garden which is expected to open towards the end of the year. “Cuckoo first opened its doors five years ago and since then it’s built up a loyal customer base,” said James O’Donnell, manager of Cuckoo. “While the renovations will give the bar a wider appeal and attract new customers, we’ve made sure to keep some of the old favourites such as the ping pong tables which have proved very popular over the years. “A lot of effort has gone into planning the new look and we’ve refreshed the entertainment line-up with an open mic session taking place every Wednesday and live music on Friday nights. There will be drinks promotions running six days a week and we’ve introduced a new jam jar cocktail menu for guests too.”
NI pub’s ex-owners disqualified as directors
BY MARGARET CANNING
T
he former owners of the Wildfowler Inn, a well-known pub on the Ards Peninsula, have received boardroom bans of seven years after their firm went bust owing £175,000. Sandra Kelso (60) of Portaferry Road in Greyabbey and Barry McCoubrey (39) from Helen’s Bay were disqualified over their conduct as bosses of ATCO (NI), which ran the Greyabbey pub and restaurant. They were banned for seven years each for misconduct including failing to pay tax of over £100,000 and failing to file annual returns. Their company went into liquidation two years ago. Kelso accepts misconduct, including allowing the company to keep back just over £140,000 in taxes. She also accepted that she didn’t co-operate with the liquidator and did not give access to books and records when asked. Kelso also failed to file annual returns on two occasions and annual accounts for one year. Her fellow director Ms McCoubrey from Carolsteen Avenue in Helen’s Bay also failed to co-operate with the liquidator and did not file an annual return and annual accounts for one year. He also held back almost £111,000 in taxes owned to the Crown. The pub and restaurant are still open. 32 • HRNI NOVEMBER
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