The Hub Box restaurant in Plymouth city centre is due to close in the first week of January 2022 - but only because a larger eatery will open at the city’s Royal William Yard at Easter.
Work is due to start this month on the new Hub Box restaurant at the listed former naval victualling yard. The Truro-headquartered burger chain will make the new 3,400sq ft waterfront restaurant its flagship site in Plymouth, bringing award-winning burgers, barbeque and beer to the popular waterfront destination.
Taking up residence in the ground floor of the Grade1 listed Melville block, Hub Box will be the first business to open in the building following extensive renovations.
Plymouth's Royal William Yard in the news...
A busy programme of work during the coming weeks will see the space transformed to create a bar and 180-seat restaurant, with indoor and outdoor courtyard and waterfront areas.
The new restaurant will become the sole focus for Hub Box in Plymouth, with the city centre restaurant closing this week and staff moving across to the new premises in due course.
The Royal William Yard restaurant marks an expansion for the business, offering double the space of the previous restaurant and a blank canvas for the “cool and creative” brand to make its mark.
Hub Box has come a long way from its beginnings on St Ives harbour, with restaurants now spanning the South West and Wales, as it continues to grow. In addition to Plymouth it has 10 restaurants in Truro, Falmouth, Pentewan, St Ives, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Exeter and Portsmouth.
Keeping close to its coastal roots, the new Plymouth restaurant will overlook Royal William Yard marina, with outdoor seating which means dining and drinks with an unrivalled view of the water.
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Behind closed doors over the coming months, Hub Box will bring its “signature unique and vibrant style” to the yard. The design will be a “celebration of South West coast and surf culture, with a modern and spirited feel”.
The décor will be light and fresh, showcasing local makers, and focusing on sustainability with reclaimed materials. New images released by the restaurant give a sneak peek of what to expect.
Emily Handslip, Urban Splash commercial director, said: “We are so excited that Hub Box is joining us at Royal William Yard and adding to the amazing hospitality offer here; this is an incredible place to visit with something for everyone, and it’s just about to get even better.
“Melville is a truly iconic building, sensitively and skilfully restored to its former glory and fit for the future. It feels especially rewarding to have a successful local independent business be the first to open here and make this special space its new Plymouth home.”
Richard Boon, founder and chief executive of Hub Box, said: “Refurbishing old and historic buildings has long been a passion of ours and is at the heart of the Hub Box ethos. Teamed with our coastal roots, it means Royal William Yard – with its wonderful setting, amazing history and architecture – is the perfect location for our next restaurant.
“We are thrilled to be creating a new flagship venue in the yard; it’s an exciting expansion to a bigger premises and job opportunities will be made available.
“It’ll be a busy start to the year, bringing our vision to life in this incredible space, but will be well worth the wait and we can’t wait to throw open the doors.”
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The first phase of the restoration of Melville building is scheduled to be completed by mid-2022 with new occupiers lining up to join Hub Box and the Everyman cinema.
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Bosses at Urban Splash, the regeneration specialist which has been developing Plymouth’s Royal William Yard for nearly 20 years, Everyman Media Group Plc is due to begin fitting out its triple screen boutique cinema in the yard at Easter 2022. It means the cinema should be on schedule for the curtain to go up in late summer. Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing with a restaurateur, offering a cuisine not already found in Plymouth, about opening in one of three ground-floor retail/hospitality units currently unclaimed.
And a large professional services firm is in talks about moving into office space on the first and second floors of the block. It would neighbour space already earmarked for co-working company BLOCK, which is taking 17,000sq ft across two floors and will also create a coffee shop, wine bar and business lounge, which users can join in the way people use airport business lounges. It means just two ground floor retail/restaurant units, on the right hand side of the building facing the Factory Cooperage, are currently totally unspoken for in the first phase of the restoration. Urban Splash is keen to hear from any potential tenants.
Urban Splash in the news