Nottingham has some amazing hidden gems that can be found down the winding alleyways and hidden streets. While there are some real treats to be found by wandering off the beaten track, what is life like for some of the city's businesses in these locations?
Cobden Chambers has a long history of housing some of Nottingham's best-loved alternative businesses such as The Front Room hairdressers, Studio Chocolate and jewellery designers, Keishi. Frequent visitors may also remember some of the gems we have loved and lost such as Ideas on Paper, Amala Living Foods, Forever Records and URSA Minor Apparel.
The quiet little street is home to many independent businesses in the city including The Front Room hair salon, Studio Chocolate, Cobden Co-working space, Hopkinson and the cafe. The success of these businesses is a testament to how hard the owners and their teams have worked to get the space looking and feeling as vibrant as it does.
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Chris Preece has been the building and communications manager of Cobden Co-working space for four years. He is also a creative artist who is based at the location. The Cobden Co-work space allows people to rent a desk on one of the floors in the building at the back of the courtyard.
The co-working space has also opened a vintage shop with specially selected clothing from Hopkinsons by the train station and also a cafe that serves a great coffee.
"It's a really special space as we work with a lot of nice independent businesses and freelancers. Lots of people visit the shop downstairs as well such as independent sellers and grassroots creatives. Each day is different and you meet a lot of people," he said.
One of the more difficult aspects of retail life on the street is the footfall as it can be easy to miss the signposts. This has made a difference to the number of businesses but some have really made it work through creative marketing and loyal customer bases.
Chris said: "The footfall is the most difficult part of working here as it can be hard to drag people away from the main street into the courtyard. We have something different here and we rely on word of mouth. The team is really great here and we have a social media group that works hard on getting people in."
Covid has changed the landscape in terms of how people work in the space. Chris says that working from home has seen an increase in freelancers looking to separate their home and work lives.
"We have definitely seen a change in the way people work. Covid was difficult for us and we've seen a huge increase since people have started working from home. A lot of people here are freelancers so they want to split their home and work life and the social life. People here collaborate on work projects together here and make friends - it's a great place to work."
Another big change to the street during Covid is the extension of The Bodega bar which now includes a taco bar. The huge seating area has managed to increase the traffic to the street as anyone drinking at the popular bar now notices the independent businesses. It creates a secret sunspot for anyone looking to grab a quiet lunch or read a book away from the busy city centre.
Ophelia King is the manager of Studio Chocolate who have been in the Courtyard for six years. She says that the extension has increased visibility as they share customers with The Bodega. Studio Chocolate offers a range of unique and tasty handmade chocolates and iced drinks.
"It's a beautiful space to be in and it's lovely that there are so many independent shops around. When the sun is out, there is a great atmosphere. We don't get footfall off the high street so we are a hidden treasure. We need to use social media otherwise we don't really get many people going past," she said.
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"The extension has been okay as it brought more people in to see us. We do a lot of iced drinks so the main clientele of Bodega is students who are our customers too."
She does feel that getting the word out about the alleyways of Nottingham is important but it takes word of mouth to get passers-by through the archway. Places like Cobden and Sneinton market offer cheaper rents that can support new businesses.
"It's just getting the alleyway on the map so people know we are here as we are tucked away. There are many alleyways in Nottingham and independent businesses tend to be places like this because rent in the city is expensive. We couldn't rent on the high street at the minute so we need places like this."
