A northern brewery has banned children from its waterside taproom amid fears for their safety.
Torrside Brewery in New Mills, Derbyshire, has caused a stir online after being the latest boozer to tell parents to leave their offspring at home when heading out for a drink.
Writing that ‘the brewery is not a safe environment for children to move around unsupervised’, owners published a statement explaining their decision to ban children from the venue after ‘a number of incidents at recent events.’
The team stressed that they had ‘very reluctantly’ made the decision to ban under 18s as the result of ‘some parents’ allowing their children to ‘wander around the brewery and the marina unsupervised.’
Explaining that ‘the Marina is private property with a large body of water’, the team continued to say that ‘there is too great a risk of accident, injury or damage’ – adding that they ‘don’t have the staff or capacity to manage these risks.’
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The full statement, posted on Twitter, reads: “Following a number of incidents at recent events, we have very reluctantly decided to adopt an ‘over-18s only’ entry policy at the brewery.
“As we have often repeated, the brewery is not a safe environment for children to move around unsupervised, the Marina is private property with a large body of water. In particular, now that our events are getting increasingly busy, there is too great a risk of accident, injury or damage. On a practical level, we don’t have the staff or capacity to manage these risks.
“We feel we have exhausted other options: we’ve asked nicely in person, posted regular reminders on social media, put posters all around the brewery, and attached details to every table. Every time we open however, we have some parents allowing their children to wander around the brewery and the marina unsupervised.
“We are truly sorry to those of you who have visited the brewery with your children and behaved impeccably. We know this is a minority who are unwilling or unable to follow our very clear requests, but this constantly causes a disproportionate amount of work and stress.
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“Simply put, we are not comfortable having responsibility for these risks placed over our heads. We want our events to be safe and enjoyable for everyone, including the brewery team, and we don’t feel we can achieve that without making this change.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Users were quick to comment, with one person saying: “It’s a shame that you have to do this. But unreasonable people are always going to be unreasonable… Shame you can’t weed them out and stop them returning…”
A pub owner in Sheffield wrote: “IMO, a small amount of parents will allow their children to freely express themselves with little consequence to their actions. ‘He’s just being himself’ was quoted back to me after one cherub had ripped every flower head off in the beer garden. You’ve made the right decision.”
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A third person commented: “It must always be frustrating for the brewery staff that an irresponsible minority spoils it. Respect your decision in this matter.”
Manchester’s smash burger and ice cream legends Big Licks launch huge crowdfunding effort
Daisy Jackson
Big Licks, the Manchester restaurant that’s found the ‘sweet spot’ between amazing burgers and delicious desserts, is sailing through a huge crowdfunding campaign.
The restaurant, which has an eye-catching location down on Liverpool Road as well as two sites in Scotland, has already raised a whopping £135,000 for its expansion dreams.
It’s now pushing to hit £150,000 so that it can open new restaurants and franchises across the UK.
Big Licks was first launched by two teenagers in 2009 as a takeaway – it’s now gone on to be a rapidly expanding name bringing in £3m in sales and more than 400,000 customers in the last 12 months alone.
On their menu you’ll find incredible smash burgers (with up to four patties in each bun) made with free-range grass-fed beef that they source directly from farm, or buttermilk chicken topped with their signature ranch sauce.
There’s also an impressive menu of house-churned ice cream made with quality local ingredients, and cakes, cheesecakes and brownies all baked in house daily.
All that is alongside fried chicken, loaded fries, and other mouth-watering sides.
Next on the agenda for Big Licks is expansion across the country, offering up the chance to become a shareholder in this bright young business.
They want to use the money raised to prepare the business for franchising, with a target to open 18 restaurants by 2027.
Then any extra money raised will be used to open more company-owned restaurants.
And there are rewards on offer for those who choose to invest in Big Licks.
If you invest £100, you’ll get a Big Licks White Card which gets you 10% off in store, as well as owning a share of the business.
Then the rewards continue with other things like free burgers and shakes all the way to merch and much bigger discounts.
Co-founder Anees Ahmed said: “It is clear that the potential is great.”
He added: “We believe one of the key ingredients to a successful restaurant is creating a hangout spot, a vibe. That will always be our aim when you come to Big Licks.”
The businessman then said: “We won’t compromise on quality. We will always keep sourcing within head office. This means we keep producing our own ice cream using locally sourced organic milk and the finest Italian flavours.
“We’ve found that sweet spot. The combination of sweet desserts and smashing burgers that opens up audience’s doors, covering off every craving.
“We want you to be part of the journey and become a shareholder in Big Licks.”
You can find out more about the Big Licks crowdfunder through Crowdcube here.
*Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Eats
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.