Grand Arcade these days notso

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 29 Jan, 2014 11:05 pm

Hi Jogon The left door of the clock was also open when I looked today.Having seen that part of Handpicked Hall looking very busy recently it was a surprise to me to see it totally empty today, even with no furniture.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Thu 30 Jan, 2014 9:08 am

There was a lot of work going on today sectioning the Vicar Lane half of the "hall".

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Thu 30 Jan, 2014 9:34 pm

Their Twitter account said half an hour ago that they have a new layout, so normality should be restored soon!https://twitter.com/HandpickedHall

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Thu 30 Jan, 2014 9:37 pm

When I was a lad, handpicked hall's entrance was Blacks Camping

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Sat 26 Apr, 2014 3:04 pm

Handpicked Hall is no more. Premises empty, shut and 'To Let'.Seems that some of it's 'sub-tenants' have taken the plunge and opened their own units in Grand Arcade and as a result there's a glut of coffee and Tea Rooms - which seems a bit harsh on Roots and Fruits where I enjoyed a pot of tea and date flapjack this morning.Understood to be Civic plans afoot to move bus traffic to Vicar Lane and pedestrianize nearby vicinity, which with the planned ABC / Vicar Lane development may put Grand Arcade back at the centre of a 'Northern Quarter'. ".....................Handpicked Hall, the entity which rents the space we trade in from our landlord, has disbanded for various reasons. So, as a result, we have spent a lot of time talking things through and thinking about what we all needed to do. After many tense negotiations, we managed to stay open – the traders who could no longer rent from Handpicked Hall have effectively cut out the middle man, and are now renting direct from the landlord. We are STILL trading, and not much has changed. A couple of businesses have moved on, but 85% of the traders are still open, including both food areas. We even have a few completely new traders coming in! Things will change at the end of March, but we are not closed, despite what some people have been saying. There was definitely a chance we would close at the end of February, but our renowned team spirit, which we are all very proud to hold, has brought us through to allow us to continue trading. Handpicked Hall was always conceived as an incubation premises for small businesses to be able to eventually move out and trade on their own without the management. A few businesses have already expanded into their own units before this happened, and others were well on their way. There are already many success stories born through the Handpicked story. Whilst the way it has happened was unexpected, Handpicked Hall was successful in giving us the skills and confidence to trade without their safety net – it's going to be hard work working without the excellent management team, but the collective ethos has been tried to its limits this week, and hasn't snapped, despite a number of hiccups........."