Sheffield food hall aiming to rebuild its position as a magnet for meet-ups

Kommune in Castlegate is aiming to rebuild its position as a magnet for meet-ups after being shuttered by the pandemic.

But bosses say they have had sleepless nights over its survival, making redundancies, reopening at half capacity - and the potential devastation of another lockdown.

The venue comprises a bar and 10 small food firms in Castle House on Angel Street. It opened last year and rapidly became the go-to place for business and leisure gatherings in the city centre.

It is also credited with kickstarting regeneration in - and attracting a raft of young firms to - Castlegate.

Eat Out To Help Out – all you need to know

Jonathan Perry, co-owner of Tamper Coffee and Depot Bakery and a Kommune director, said lockdown had been their toughest challenge as income hit zero and bills piled up, forcing them to spend their own money to keep going.

Redundancies were made in Tamper and Depot, he said. Adrian Hackett, of Kommune, said during lockdown 30 of its 90 staff had ‘moved on’ but there had been no redundancies.

Now they were focused on coming back better and re-hiring people.

Mr Perry said: “They’ve not been easy decisions and we have had sleepless nights because we care about every staff member. We have tried to do everything we can as business owners.

“As soon as we are back up and running they will be the first back on board.

“It’s the toughest time we have been through, one more month and we would have had to shut the door. Now it’s like starting again.”

‘Spend, spend, spend to help local economy’

Kommune has almost 500 seats but just 230 are in use under social distancing rules.

The former department store building, now called Kollider, includes a Barclays Eagle Lab incubator and the headquarters of tech firm WANdisco.

Nick Morgan, Kommune director, had a simple message: “Book yourself a table.”

He added: “When we closed in March we were just getting into our stride. We want to get Sheffield going again and get bums on seats.

“This story is one of opportunity for Castlegate, there are enterprising young people all around us now.

"Kommune is a focal point for conversations, we are adamant that continues. It’s not just a food hall or bar, it’s part of a delicate ecosystem and the fabric of Sheffield.

“We need to come back better than we were and I think Sheffield needs it too.”

In October, Sheffield tech firm WANdisco announced it was relocating all 60 staff from the Electric Works near the station to Kollider.

The building opened last year after a £3m taxpayer-funded revamp.

WANdisco helps firms move data from hard drives into the cloud. It was set up in California by Sheffield-born David Richards in 2005. He chose Sheffield for its UK head office in 2009.

Mr Richards said the move gave them space to expand – and he hoped it would accelerate the regeneration of the Castlegate area.

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