Goods Yard grows as two new indie food and drink spots join the neighbourhood

Goods Yard is about to get even livelier, with two new independent food and drink spots joining Capital&Centric's canalside neighbourhood in Stoke-on-Trent.

The restored Signal Box is set for a new lease of life as a bar, café and taproom, while a new Italian restaurant is also on its way, opening in the space above.

Beartown Brewery are bringing Goods Yard Tap to the ground floor, a new hospitality concept serving speciality coffee and pastries from 7am, alongside a burger menu and a taproom. The taproom will showcase a changing line-up of beers from independent breweries across Staffordshire, the Midlands and beyond.

Upstairs, a new Italian restaurant will bring a proper destination dining experience to Goods Yard – with an announcement on the operator coming soon.

And there's already a community on the doorstep. Goods Yard's 174 apartments are now home to hundreds of people, with residents making the most of the public square, gym, mini-cini, resident spaces and Friday Feast events. The new venues will bring even more food, drink and activity to the neighbourhood.

It's another step in the transformation of the former industrial site next to Stoke railway station. The £63m Goods Yard has brought homes, 30,000 sq ft of workspace, independent businesses and a new public square to the area, with the new venues adding even more life to the mix.

Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said:

"We believe in Stoke. That's why we've put £63m behind Goods Yard, and why we're continuing to put our money into great places here. Goods Yard is already a proper community, with hundreds of people now calling it home. You can feel the buzz building, and these new openings are going to crank that up another notch. Turning an old Signal Box into somewhere for coffee, burgers and beers is exactly the sort of thing we love doing. Take a building that's been sat empty, give it a new purpose and create somewhere people actually want to spend time. And we're not stopping here. There's more to come at Goods Yard, as well as our plans for Spode Works. We're putting our money where our mouth is because we genuinely believe in Stoke and its future. There's a real appetite for great places here, and we're excited to keep adding to them."

Joe Manning, Managing Director and Partner at Beartown Brewery, said:

"We're properly excited to be opening Goods Yard Tap and becoming part of what's happening in Stoke. Goods Yard is a seriously cool development and the Signal Box felt like the right home for what we want to do. We'll be bringing plenty of Beartown beer, great burgers and the kind of relaxed atmosphere we're known for. There's loads happening in Stoke right now and some really exciting plans across Staffordshire more widely, so we're keen to put our mark on the area and become part of that story. We've got ambitious plans for Beartown over the next few years, and Goods Yard Tap is an important part of that next chapter."

Goods Yard Tap is set to open in October, with the Italian restaurant following in the months ahead.

The venues join Panko & Sushi, which has already opened at Goods Yard, adding to the growing mix of food, drink, homes and workspace.

And Goods Yard is just part of Capital&Centric's plans for Stoke. The developer is also progressing plans for Spode Works, the iconic ceramics site in the heart of Stoke town centre. The first phase is set to bring independent cafés, bars and restaurants, workspaces, padel courts, exhibitions and community spaces, with the wider masterplan creating a new mixed-use neighbourhood with homes, culture and green space.