If you follow Forged Spirits on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen posts illustrating our newest venture. We began our hunt for new, larger premises early last year, following a need for additional space and a desire to have a direct interface with our customers.
After lots of searching, we were given the fantastic opportunity to become part of Tileyard North, a development that follows the success of Tileyard London, a sister complex in the south. Situated in the centre of Wakefield, the 135,000 ft project aims to breathe new life into the Grade II listed mills on the banks of the river Calder.
Paul Kempe of City and Provincial Properties is one of Tileyard London’s founders who (when visiting the Hepworth) was intrigued by the then run-down buildings that stand next door to the gallery – “they are potentially phenomenal but essentially dilapidated”. Between his first sight of the complex, also known as ‘Rutland Mills’, and now, Paul Kempe has been inspired to expand Europe’s largest creative community to the site which has been disused since 1999. In the BBC article that discussed the future of Wakefield, Tileyard North was described as “a giant hub for the creative industries promising to become the UK’s largest creative community outside of London.” We are so excited to be moving into this diverse workspace and to finally have a permanent face-to-face contact point with our customers.
Our new premises will consist of a full-service bar adjoined to our working distillery, which will be visible through a viewing portal and will feature our new custom-made 300-litre copper still. Curated with a 1920s meets industrial style decor, we hope to emulate a sophisticated atmosphere whilst also paying homage to the industrial roots of Rutland Mills. We will serve a variety of drinks, ranging from freshly ground coffee to hand-crafted cocktails and of course a selection of Forged Spirits!
This exciting step will allow us to interact directly with our customers, giving us the opportunity to collect feedback and offer more services, such as gin classes or distillery tour experiences.
See what Tileyard is all about in this 60 second youtube video This is Tileyard London – YouTube
We love hearing from you! If you have any comments, requests or ideas surrounding our bar’s development, please comment below or share on social media.
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