The recently renamed Northern Quarter of Lord Street in Southport was once part of the high street that looked tattered and run down, but now it is a thriving hub of nightlife and food destinations.
The portion of the town centre main road looked as though it might be left behind before the Covid-19 pandemic as units were left empty and businesses were leaving. But now filled with lively bars and restaurants, the area attracts plenty of visitors, whether they're local or not.
The addition of the likes of House of Ivy and Great Himalayas has changed the feel of the area, according to staff and customers. Once-dormant retail units are now booming hospitality hotspots.
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In 2019, if you walked down the stretch of Lord Street that goes from Gordon Street to Seabank Road you would see Lourdes and Ra, and struggle to see much else until you got to Peaky Blinders, but now you're spoilt for choice.
Speaking to the ECHO, Eva Smith, manager of House of Ivy, said: "As one of the latest additions to the growing success of Southport's Northern Quarter, we have created a strongly built relationship with the neighbouring businesses. We only opened shortly after the last lockdown so we had no idea if people were going to be interested in coming out, as well as opening a very unique bar and restaurant that delivers a range of house music and DJs on a Friday and Saturday evenings.
"After overcoming that first hurdle and becoming increasingly busy after lots of hard work, we have now got the issue of the soaring energy bills. We are all working as a team to keep the Northern Quarter the place to be by creating a wide variety of businesses to fit taste.
"Between ourselves and the management team, we have over 50 years of experience in the hospitality sector, but having a restaurant was a new venture."
The most recent addition was the Beer Inn, the town's first micropub that recently reopened. Owner Nik Weatherby said: "The Beer Inn was the original micro bar in Southport and brought some of Europe’s best beers to Southport.
"Unfortunately, it closed during covid and never reopened. Myself and my business partners used to drink in there and loved the atmosphere and the variety of beer so we were really disappointed when it closed.
"Since we reopened, each week it has gone from strength to strength with many of the regulars coming back and now we have the largest range of beers in Southport. We thought long and hard about taking it over and our final decision was the fact we had some amazing business around us bringing more people and life to the area.
"Each of the Northern Quarter businesses brings something unique to Lord Street and it’s amazing that we all work hard to make the area as successful as it is."
Georgie Bradshaw from Great Himalayas, a Nepalese restaurant, said: "The northern quarter of Lord Street was non-existent in many people's minds and that is something all of us small independent businesses knew we had to change. We have worked around the clock, moving aside our personal lives to get the life back into the Northern Quarter.
"We can now sit back and be proud to see the diversity on the street to cater to every clientele, the hard work has truly been worth it and it’s only going to get bigger and better from now on."
Looking to the future, the Northern Quarter is only going to grow with the addition of The Grand at the former site of the Grand Casino, which is expected to open on July 15. The site will host a number of bars and a restaurant in the first phase of the complete redesign by the Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group as they expand their business ventures in the town.
The grand opening will see Chloe's Piano Bar and the Grand Brasserie opened before the opening of Harry's Bar, the Sky Bar and the Princess Grace Suite.
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