THE development of one of Warrington’s iconic buildings continues to attract quality operators; Burgerism, the most ordered burger in Manchester on Deliveroo, is coming to The Hive.
Its TikTok famous smashed burgers have built a cult following since its launch in 2018, serving up in excess of 1,000 burgers a day. More recently Burgerism won Food Trader of the Year 2022 at
the Manchester Food and Drink Awards and was ranked Top 6 Burger in the UK & Ireland on Deliveroo’s Restaurant Awards. Their tasty smashed burgers even won the praise of the Michelin-starred Head Chef of ‘Mana’ Simon Martin, who proclaimed that they were “Manchester’s Best Burger”.
This announcement also coincides with the launch of Honeycombe, a new delivery-only kitchen at The Hive to the rear of the premises on Egypt Street. Honeycombe will offer food concepts delivery kitchen space, bringing a wide variety of cuisines to the locale.
Burgerism originally started from a delivery kitchen in Salford, before adding a central Manchester delivery kitchen, and a walk-up location at Manchester’s ‘Escape to Freight Island’. Burgerism is
now on the expansion trail and has secured a unit at the Egypt Street side of the new Hive development, which follows its recent expansion in Leeds, Stockport and soon Liverpool (launching late
Jan ’23).
Burgerism co-founder, Mark Murphy, commented ‘From our Manchester stores, we’ve built a loyal following of fans in Warrington – who regularly make the Burgerism pilgrimage. We loved their passion for what we do – and felt it right to bring Burgerism a little closer to home. We’re really excited about the level of ambition at the Hive development; the location and unit felt a perfect fit for us. As is the Burgerism way, we’ll continue to focus on delivery, and will also offer a collection and takeout option for fans. Our intention is to launch in spring 2023. See you soon Warrington!”
‘The Hive WA1’ is the former TJ Hughes department store, a three storey corner property covering a massive 85,000 sq ft. Work is underway to convert the building to a one stop destination for a
number of facets and be a busy hive of activity for both work and play. The ground floor space is nearing the completion of its transformation into a Boutique Shopping Mall to open Spring 2023.
Part of the buildings development is the construction of a bespoke delivery or dark kitchen at the rear of the premises called ‘Honeycombe’ It will house 12 individual kitchen units which can be
hired on short term lets and use the access at the large goods yard onto Egypt Street for delivery only. Providing unit spaces of 15m2 – 20m2, with extraction and services for a set fee and hopes to
attract leading brands that are focused on developing their delivery presence in the town centre and surrounding areas.
Ben Rafferty, a specialist retail hospitality consultant working with the landlord, revealed; ‘The Hive is a continuous development and we are really excited about the future. Warrington has
a population of over 200,000 people but didn’t have a specific Delivery focused kitchen concept. I am delighted to bring Manchester’s #1 burger concept to help launch this for us’.
The Hive is in legals with several other operators to take space within the premises.
Black Sheep Coffee – expanding globally and creating a huge cult following across the UK & USA planning to open its 80 cover coffee shop in April 2023.
Pendergast Steakhouse will be taking over the old Mojo’s Tapas Bar on Cairo Street, creating a premium steak restaurant and bar, using local suppliers and live entertainment at weekends.
Opening March 2023.
Ruddies Pizza, a local family run artisan pizza business, who has traded over the last few years, has taken space to operate a take-away facility. Opened December 2022.
Krapow Thai Kitchen – established within the Warrington Market hall Phil and wife Nok are opening a 20 cover street food kitchen specialising in their signature Thai dishes. (opening Feb 2023)
Brighella’s Gelateria is operating a traditional Italian ice cream bar facing onto Sankey Street.
Born from a traditional Italian ice cream family, dating back to the 40’s, it sells a wide range of ice cream and sorbet flavours. (Opened in Nov 2022)
First Floor houses the 7,000 square foot Brass Monkey sports bar that opened in May 2022 and has shuffle boards, ping pong, pool, live stage and DJ booth. In addition there has been 3,700
square feet let to local businesses for offices and 8,000 square feet being made available for a Co-Working office space called ‘Nectar’.
There are plans to convert the second floor and above into a hotel with conference and banqueting space for 200 people. This floor is home to the original Members Hall from 1910 where a plaque
celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Warrington Co-Operative Society (then known as Warrington Equitable Industrial Co-Operative Society). The Memorial Hall would have been used by the
members for events and a plaque in situ was kept up to date with details of presidents until the outbreak of World War II.
Part of the hotel plans is to house a panoramic Sky Garden on the roof that offers incredible views to the West. Plans show an island bar, kitchens and seating for +150 people. A new lift is being installed from the ground floor mall direct to the roof.
The Hive is still seeking operators to occupy the first phase of the shopping mall for a number of different types of businesses including boutique gym, artisan bakery, beauty clinic, travel agency,
jewellers, mens grooming, ladies and men’s fashion store, music shop, tattooist, florists and wine merchants. If you have a viable business plan and can demonstrate strong commercial acumen or
are already established, then get in touch, rents start from as little as £200 per week. We are planning to launch this by March 2023’
The building as a whole was designed by architect John Douglas around 1864, but was substantially rebuilt around 1908.
The Ground floor at the turn of the last century would have originally been the Co-Operative Society’s main department store – featuring grocers, draper, provision dealers, baker and cobblers. It
was more recently trading as TJ Hughes.
All in all it is sure to become a mecca for hospitality, shopping and office space all under the same roof.
Please email all enquires to [email protected] and check all the details on the website www.thehivewa1.com
