Plans revealed for two-storey 'Las Vegas-style lounge bar' and a new 'speakeasy' inside the old Spearmint Rhino in Sheffield

After buying the former Harrisons building on Ecclesall Road, the group of buyers behind the Copa brand decided not to give Caffé Nero the opportunity to renew their lease and earlier this month opened a new café in its place called Copa Caffé for takeaway.

They hope Copa Caffé, which is based at 277-279 Ecclesall Road, will be able to invite customers to sit in next month; and say they are passionate about stocking from local producers including Cuppa’s Choice coffee, doughnuts from Suited Baker and Our Cow Molly milk.

Joe Morris of Copa says their plan when buying the site always involved turning 291 Ecclesall Road into a hospitality venue, and work has now got underway to transform it into Copa Bar.

He said: “The bar is going to be over two floors and is going be a Las Vegas-style lounge bar, where you can have a drink and speak to your friends…it’s going to be very stylish in its design.”

Joe said that all of the Copa venues will have a signature design style that will include chic decor, booths for groups of friends and high quality furniture.

The upstairs of Copa Bar, which has great views of Ecclesall Road, will be available for hire and can be cordoned off for private parties.

The Copa team hope to open Copa Bar in August, and will be looking to recruit around 25 members of staff, in a wide range of roles from glass collectors to bar managers.

Their third Sheffield venue will be housed within the old Spearmint Rhino site at Brown Street in the city centre, which they purchased last year, and will be comprised of speakeasy style venue called Copa Club on the ground floor and a sports bar called Extra Time on the first floor.

Joe says that they have retained Spearmint Rhino’s entertainment licence which means they will be able to keep the venue open until late, and they aim to open it to the public in June.

He said: “We want to create something where people can go and have an experience. The level of investment we’ve put into the sports bar is a fair amount, and I think people will like what we’ve done with it.”

"We want our venue to be an asset to the area.”

He says Copa Club will feel like a “late night bar,” selling a range of quality cocktails, while Extra Time will be a sports bar with several television screens showing American sports such as Sunday Night Football, the NBA (National Basketball Association) and ice hockey. They will also serve American diner-style food at Extra Time.

"We’ll have the Olympics on, and people will be able to watch Tom Daley at 4am if that’s what they want to do,” he said.

Copa also hope to hire around 25 staff members to work at Copa Club and Extra Time and are set to announce the details of their recruitment drive shortly through their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/CopaSheffield

Oval Group Ltd are carrying out the fitout for the Copa projects. Ben Harvey and his team are a new Sheffield bar fitting company based in Sheffield.

Dawnvale have designed the projects, and are working on Extra Time.

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