A STALYBRIDGE business has set up a new arm after establishing a bar at the back of its shop.
Ol’s Bier and More, on Market Street, has already established itself as a popular venue for those requiring something that bit more special.
Now customers can drink on the premises after a room at the rear was converted into a venue, complete with draught beer.
The idea was the brainchild of co-owner Shaun Bishop but he admits how it looks is down to wife Ella.
He said: “It was me who broached the conversion with Ella and she was like, ‘No, it won’t work. It’s such a small space.’
“But me being me, I just persevered and ground her down. She made it look nice, though. How it looks is absolutely down to Ella.
“We were planning it for about a year but all the hard work and graft took about six months. I did the nice bits, like putting shelves up, but all the hard stuff was done by a few mates who helped me out, along with local tradesmen.
“The original plan was to open up as a bar but with Covid-19, we reverted to being a bottle shop. Then we thought, ‘We’ve got a bit of room at the back, so why not make use of it.’
“So we’ve had two new draught lines put in and two new fridges. We’ve a house wine list and people can take things off the shelf too.”
At the moment, the bar, which seats about 20 people, is open from noon until 8pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
But Shaun says there is the chance to extend the hours as they get used to the new addition.
He added: “We’ve got slightly later opening hours on the licence but until we find our feet, we’re going to open from noon until 8pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“We can extend it as we go forward.”