A Winning Streak!

We are absolutely over the moon to have been awarded the title of 'Best Micro Business' at the 2023/24 unLTD Business Awards! We were also shortlisted for Best Hospitality Business!

Fantastic to be in such creative, innovative and dynamic company alongside some brilliant businesses in our region. 

A Glimpse at The Entry

How innovative you have been in your industry

Innovation is everything to us - we have to innovate to attract business in the first place - then innovate again to that same audience to find ways to inspire guests to re-book our event spaces for different reasons. 

Meeting room guests often transform into Wedding guests or Supper Club guests into Wedding guests and Private Dining events into regular Supper Club guests. We also innovate to attract a new audience to be able to achieve our business objectives 

For this period we set out with the goal to successfully create a ‘7 days a week, around the clock’ creative hospitality lifestyle brand which is nimble enough to adapt but always has a consistent and reassuringly positive presence that warmly welcomes thousands of guests a year into our spaces at The Mowbray and The Chimney House. 

Our mission is to continue to seamlessly create a second to none experience that opens new doors of possibility when it comes to environment, food and customer care - our ethos is always to exceed expectations and surprise and delight at all times from corporate events through to weddings.  

Investing into our venues and developing our team has meant we have been able to innovate and inspire through how we present both venues. We’ve been intentionally active with strategic innovation to boost customer experience during this period. 

Innovation within this period for our corporate market - has been to develop and expand our spaces - we launched The Cabin - on our Rooftop space - which is used as another space in connection with our main space - this gives brands and businesses a place for clandestine meetings, private chats or indulgent feasting - as well as being able to spill out onto the rooftop - complete with a cocktail bar. Adding this space has led to a 30% increase in corporate events at The Mowbray. 

One of our biggest innovations through this period has been the expansion of our full time Kitchen Team to allow us to operate 7 days a week - with events at both The Chimney House and The Mowbray. We have always led with a purely seasonal and provenance rich approach to food - and we passionately pursue a ‘Mowbray made’ stance - which covers everything from breads, cakes, curing, pickling and preserving - which gives us a unique edge - challenging the perception of ‘event food’. 

Food for us opens all of the doors - it is the very heart of our business and it allows us to present feasting on a grand scale - 150 guests at The Mowbray - or intimate private dining for up to 20 at The Chimney House. We run multiple menus at each location -  topically and seasonally to keep presenting exceptional menus that are fresh, inspirational and desirable. 

Managing and preventing food waste is incredibly important - and we have been able to carefully manage this and make a massive positive impact. We carefully manage this with exacting customer care which we achieve by investing into our sales and booking approach. We know exactly who, how many and what our guests needs are - weeks in advance of an event which means we can cater exactly without excess. We’ve also recently introduced Mowbray bakes into our inner city speciality coffee cafe Mow’s to allow us a core range of exclusive products. 

Development of the rooftop and investment into our Kitchen team as also meant a new experience which is our Up On The Roof Dining Series - run through the Summer months - this has also expanded into our corporate market leading to a new section of seasonal business. 

Innovation, creativity and more capacity in The Kitchen has led to a 25% increase in Supper and Lunch Clubs during this time. These events take us outside the realm of private events and allows guests to book seats at the table to one of our feasting events which are a highly effective way of expanding our reach and creativity. We have highly anticipated annual events - The Feast of All Hallow’s and The Festive Feast - as well as ever favourites - The Italian Canteen and Steak Night. 2023 saw our second Christmas Market - where we gifted space to 10 independent Sheffield creators and makers to join in our day which saw over 600 guests. 

Our House Events are our way of achieving measurable marketing, PR and content and the perfect environment for future guests to experience our venues. It also allows us to gain national recognition for our food for example - The Great Sheffield Roast won the public vote in the Observer Food Monthly Awards 2022/23.  We also love collaborations with local brands and Sheffield businesses and each event sells out to its maximum capacity. 

Mow’s Coffee Hangout on Arundel Street has been an innovation in its own right - with its main goal to become a city centre extension and presence for both The Mowbray and The Chimney House. We have also taken contacts and experience from Mow’s to offer a brilliant  coffee experience for Meeting Room guests at The Mowbray. This has transformed into a vibrant brand in its own right as well as working hard for us to be a daily presence for the event spaces. 

Our marketing strategy for all sectors has seen us reap the rewards of innovation - one example - is that we have recently seen an increase in midweek weddings - especially early week - Monday and Tuesdays and even Sunday’s following a marketing initiative - with the creation of two microzines - The Year of Love - which shows weddings around the calendar at both venues and The Year of Events - which gives a detailed look into all of our events and innovations each month of the year! The zines are available as a deluxe print edition and a digital copy.