Family firm the Gainford Group is gearing up to reopen the doors of its leisure venues, having made a number of investments during lockdown.
The Gainford Group owns and operates a number of sites across the region including Newcastle’s Vermont Hotel, Livello, Avieka, The County Hotel and The Hudson, as well as a nursery and a care home division.
While Covid-19 restrictions have been in place the firm, run by the Khaliq family, has focused on carrying out a number of makeovers, including to its Livello night spot and a complete overhaul of the rooftop terrace at The Vermont Hotel.
Last month the Chester-le-Street company said it was in the final stages of the first phase of the Above rooftop bar and restaurant, a £2m project creating 50 jobs.
The initial phase was the creation of a luxury venue based inside a glass box, with 360 degrees over Newcastle city centre.
Now director Imran Khaliq has released images of the second phase – the outdoor section of the Above venue taking in the second half of the rooftop, which will be a multi-use leisure site to host a rooftop cinema, weddings and conferences alongside the bar.
The second phase comes a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a roadmap for the ‘cautious’ exit from lockdown, which will see the indoors of bars and restaurants reopen to customers on June 21, at the earliest.
Mr Khaliq welcomed the tentative reopening date for hospitality, saying the Above venue and all the others in the firm’s portfolio will be ready to go.
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He said: “We’re excited to launch on June 21 and can’t wait. To be honest I had feared hospitality wouldn’t be able to reopen until September, so June is a good time to work towards. We’ve taken the time in lockdown to do a lot of work behind the scenes and we’ll be ready.
“The Above bar takes up the whole footprint of the Vermont Hotel’s rooftop and we’ve previously released images of how the indoor part would look.
“This second part is the open air bit that encompasses a number of opportunities for us, including weddings and conferences. There will be a bar and seating, but how that space is used is interchangeable.
“Weddings are an important part of our offering at the Vermont and we’ve won the best city centre wedding venue from 海角视频 Brides seven years running – so this is a good point for our weddings, moving forward.
“We’re also looking at hosting different types of events, including rooftop cinema nights, showing new releases and classics on our outdoor screen. There is going to be themed nights too, around Valentine’s Day and Halloween, for example.”
Looking ahead, Mr Khaliq said the firm is also working on other developments.
He added: “We’re very busy at the moment and we’ve got lots coming up in the future.”