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York-based brewery Brew York will reopen Goole’s historic Market Hall as a community bar, food hall and events venue under its ‘Brew+’ brand on Thursday, 2 April, following its restoration and refurbishment as part of the Goole Town Deal programme.
With the team behind the award-winning, independent craft brewery at the helm, the new-look venue will offer visitors a choice of four different street food options, as well as a welcoming bar and a lively events space. The new Goole site brings the total number of venues operated by Brew York across the East Riding of Yorkshire and in York and North Yorkshire to 10, and has already created over 35 jobs, with several vacancies still open.
For the street food options, Brew York has worked with several vendors, some of which are local to the Goole area, to develop recipes and menus. They include Brew+Bao (in collaboration with Howden’s Yuzu Street Food, which will offer Asian-fusion food), Brew+Slice (Roman-style pizzas with The Block Pizza), Brew+Burger (with Good Boy Burger) and Brew+Bake (brownies, blondies, cakes, pastries, teas and coffees from Little Blondie Bakehouse and Goole’s Corgi & Cream Bakery).
In addition to the food on offer, the venue will serve Brew York beers, as well as some specials, such as Goole Tide Pale and an upcoming collaboration with Goole Vikings Rugby League Football Club (RLFC).The venue will regularly host live music, making best use of it’s state-of-the-art sound system and large screen, as well as a variety of community events and activities, working in close collaboration with Junction Goole to further enhance the town’s cultural offering.
Wayne Smith, Managing Director of Brew York, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be bringing our Brew+ brand to Goole, and what better venue than the beautiful old Market Hall, which has been restored back to its former glory, thanks to the Goole Town Deal programme. It will be the perfect place to eat, drink and come together in the community. We’re very much looking forward to working with local partners and stakeholders to promote and champion the town and all the wonderful things it has to offer.”
Phil Jones, Chair of the Goole Town Deal Board, said: “I know that I speak for everyone on the Goole Town Deal Board when I say that I’m incredibly excited about the reopening of Goole Market Hall. It’s wonderful to see another of the eight strategic projects that the Board chose to allocate a share of the £25 million in Government funding that Goole received coming to fruition.
“We’ve always viewed the Market Hall as anchor destination that will play a key role in our wider regeneration plans for the town. Not only has the future of this much-loved building been secured, but I’m confident that it will also be a catalyst for further economic growth, creating employment for local people and boosting footfall within the town centre.
“I’m very much looking forward to going along on the opening weekend and trying the offering for myself. I’d like to congratulate Brew York on the opening of their latest venue, and thank them for the passion and commitment they’ve shown to our wonderful town.”
Back in 2019, the Victorian Market Hall’s future was looking increasingly bleak. It was costing Goole Town Council more than £1,000 per month to operate the market and the fabric of the building was in an increasingly poor state of repair. As a result, the market closed and the building was handed back to East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Thankfully, a golden opportunity arrived later that same year when Goole was invited to apply for a share of the Government’s Town Deal funding and the Market Hall became central to the Goole Town Deal Board’s plans to reinvigorate the town centre, with £4 million allocated to its restoration.
Planning permission for the project was granted in 2024 and work began on site last year. William Birch & Sons Ltd was the main contractor for the scheme, which involved making the venue more energy efficient by replacing the roof and glazing.
The venue will be open to the public from 10am to midnight on Thursday 2 April and between the same hours over the Easter bank holiday weekend, before reverting to its regular opening hours of Monday to Wednesday, from 10am to 11pm, and Thursday to Saturday, from 10am to midnight. During the opening weekend live musicians from the Goole area will be performing each evening.
About Goole Market Hall:
Built in 1896 to replace an earlier building that was destroyed by fire in 1891, the Market Hall is owned by East Riding of Yorkshire Council but was operated by Goole Town Council for many years. It sits within a Conservation Area and, although it’s not a listed building, it’s a prominent landmark within the town and widely viewed as an integral part of Goole’s rich heritage.
For more than a century, the Market Hall was used by the people of Goole and the surrounding area as a shopping destination and a venue for other activities, such as roller-skating, before the installation of fixed stalls meant that this was no longer possible. Sadly, as people’s shopping habits changed, the market gradually fell into decline.
However, when Goole Civic Society launched a public campaign to save the Market Hall, it became clear that local people still feel very strongly about the building and want to see it preserved for community use. In fact, 67 per cent of those who responded to the Civic Society’s ‘People’s Vote on the Future of Goole Market Hall’ expressed a wish to see the building used for both markets and other community events.
This invaluable feedback helped to shape the Town Investment Plan that Goole submitted to the Government in a bid to secure a share of the Town Deal funding.