UCB unveils next stage of food college plan
University College Birmingham is set to open a café, restaurant and bar as part of £15m plans to develop three hospitality venues in the city.
Beyond, a new 80-cover Café, restaurant and bar will open at UCB’s College of Food at Summer Row later this year, part of a wider strategy which saw the university take control of the troubled Cube hotel and restaurant near the Mailbox.
UCB snapped up the 52-room hotel operation for an undisclosed sum in July, a year after it first hit the market following the collapse of its former operators, announcing a major refurbishment of the venue ahead of a potential reopening later this year.
- READ MORE: Birmingham uni snaps up stricken Cube Hotel
Alongside a refurbishment of UCB’s existing venue, Restaurant at Birmingham College of Food, the changes at Summer Row mark the first steps in UCB’s previously announced wider investment programme, aimed at providing learning opportunities for students, while supporting Birmingham’s wider hospitality sector.
A total of 30 full-time jobs and student placements will be created by Beyond.
“The changes at our Summer Row campus represent a significant step in our commitment to investing in exceptional learning environments for our students, as well as creating fantastic new experiences for the people of Birmingham and beyond, whether that’s enjoying small plates and wine at Beyond, or tasting exemplary dishes at the new-look Restaurant at College of Food,” said David Cumberlidge, commercial director.
“Beyond and the transformed Restaurant at College of Food will give our students brand new, state-of-the art spaces to learn in, working alongside industry professionals in environments that reflect the very best of what’s happening in hospitality right now.
“We are giving the people of Birmingham and beyond even more reason to visit Summer Row, but also adding new, exemplary facilities for all of our current and future students, no matter what they are studying. We hope this will encourage even more young people to consider embarking on the next phase of their education at University College Birmingham.”
