Titanic Brewery set to open £80,000 station venue

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Full steam ahead: Titanic Brewery will open its second Bod cafe bar concept at Stoke-on-Trent station in October

Staffordshire-based Titanic Brewery will open another venue in its cafe bar concept at Stoke-on-Trent station next month, in an £80,000 investment.

The brewery shared conceptual drawings of the development, Bod, which will be a coffee and lunch spot as well as a craft beer bar later in the day.

Joint managing director Dave Bott said: “We have had huge success at our first Bod in Weeping Cross, Stafford, and are confident that we can build on that and create a space that will successfully serve both train passengers and the general public at Stoke Station."

“As a brewery, we are well known for our award-winning community pubs, but we see the Bod concept as meeting a new need in the market.

“Bod opens early and is a comfortable space for coffee and a light breakfast or lunch before evolving into a craft beer café bar for visitors from lunchtime onwards.

The decision for a station site followed a Virgin Trains partnership to bring passengers additional facilities, and the site will include space for business meetings.

First impressions

Bott added: “We have designed Bod Stoke to appeal to both the local community and rail passengers, giving visitors to our home city a good and lasting first impression of Stoke-on-Trent.”

Mark Taylor, station manager for Virgin Trains at Stoke-on-Trent, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with Titanic Brewery who deserve great credit for their energy and passion.

“We have no doubt Bod will be a great success and we look forward to playing our part in making this happen.

“It is part of our strategy to challenge the traditional views about station management and deliver a vision whereby they become more integral to the communities they serve.

Reviving the area

He continued: “Our overarching aim in this instance is to improve the experience of all customers using the station, while at the same time partnering with a local business to bring new life to the station and the surrounding area.”

The bar will open on 8 October at Stoke-on-Trent station, and has created 12 new jobs.

The brewery  hopes to open a third venue in Trentham at a former NatWest bank, providing a planning application to Stoke-on-Trent City Council is approved.