After months of extensive building work and a £750,000 renovation, The Philharmonic will open its doors to the general public at 12noon on July 29th.
The grand opening of The Philharmonic will be preceded by a VIP launch night on the 28th of July, before the beloved bar opens for business nine years after it closed its doors in the late noughties.
The developers began work on the iconic building in June 2016, but had to carry out extensive repairs to the structure to repair a lot of the remedial work carried out by previous owners.
Just over a year since they first got the keys and a lot of hard work from the leaseholders Capital G, contractors and management, the Directors of Croeso Pubs, which owns the lease for The Philly, are looking forward to welcoming customers, old and new, through their doors.
Director Simon Little said: “We knew this was going to be a big job – reopening something as iconic as a grade II listed building like The Philharmonic was never going to be an easy task – but the sheer extent of the work needed to bring it back to its former glory has been a real challenge.
“Along the way we’ve discovered some lovely features from its past. A hidden lane through the middle of the building, which lead to a change to the interior plans and which we have now made a major feature of the venue, as well as a beautiful original tiled floor on the lower ground floor.”
Fellow Director, Craig Davies, continued: “Refurbishing a building like The Philly, has certainly been an eye opener. The complexity of the building itself, the look we wanted to achieve and the historic significance of the venue all had to be taken into. We are thrilled with the results.”
Directors Craig Davies and Simon Little currently run two successful independent city centre venues, Brewhouse and Retro, and have recruited an experienced management team to run the venue, as well as creating more than 75 full and part time jobs to cover bar, events, kitchen and management duties.
The Philharmonic will be managed by Nick Newman. Nick has managed some of Cardiff’s most successful bars and his many years’ experience of running some of Cardiff’s top nightspots will be invaluable in bringing The Philharmonic back to its former glory. He is also the Chairman of Cardiff Licensees’ Forum.
Nick’s deputy manager is Natasha Davies who has been in the bar industry for 14 years. She has managed city centre bars throughout her career with Bar Risa (now Bierkeller) and Brains, where she stayed for ten years before joining The Philharmonic team.
Events and Marketing Manager Elaine Edwards trained with Greene King before embarking on a degree in Event management. She has worked on events, touring and marketing in the music industry and as an event manager and wedding co-ordinator at boutique hotel.
The Philharmonic will be open seven days a week, serving food all day. The Philharmonic will offer around 50 different gins, including gins from the Eccentric Gin Company, who distil Cardiff Gin. The team has also been working hard sourcing local beers, ales and ciders to offer its customers, as well as 25 other beers, lagers and cask ales.