New bar set to open in Derbyshire town centre next month – as owners share their plans to transform venue

The Bottle Bank will open its doors on King Street in Belper next month - with Kirsty and Sam Jackson taking over the former Bank at Belper premises.

The Bank at Belper opened in August 2022, transforming a former RBS branch that was closed down in 2019. A soft launch will be taking place at The Bottle Bank on September 7, before the venue opens on September 8.

Kirsty said the process of taking on the venue had happened quickly - and that it was a return to the hospitality industry for both herself and her partner Sam.

She said: “It’s a hugely quick turnaround. It’s been closed for a few months, we went to see it and three weeks later we had the keys.

“We met at Wetherspoons, we were both managers there. We left there when I had my first child, and this is our first foray back into it, so it’s exciting.”

Discussing the plans for the venue, Kirsty said that the building had already been gutted - with work underway to revamp the bar ahead of its reopening.

She said: “It was a bar beforehand, so it has been laid out as a bar. We got the keys on Monday night at 5.00pm, and by the time I got there on Tuesday at 3.00pm, it was a shell. They’ve ripped out the bar and the back bar.

“All of that is being replaced, and we’ve got a joiner in at the minute making a new bar.”

There will be three different levels to the bar, along with an outdoor area - with Kirsty adding that the former bank vault downstairs will be given a new lease of life.

She said: “We’re going to make it a three level venue. The vault downstairs has never been used previously, but that will be available for private hire, for wine tastings or whatever it is the customer decides they want.

“The first floor upstairs is going to be a function room, but it’s a small function room - it’s for people that have got 30 people or less, there’s a small dance floor and space for a DJ and seating. When it isn’t being used for events, it will just be a separate seating area.

“The upstairs bar will be cocktails and wines only, there’s no draught options on that bar.

“The garden is being decked out, so that will be lovely. People will be able to order and pay at their table as well - there’s all sorts of different things going on.”

Kirsty said that the venue would have a strong focus on wines - but would offer something to satisfy everyone’s tastes.

She said: “We’re having 40 plus wines - white, red, rose, champagne, Prosecco, cava and sparkling English wine.

“We’ve also got draught options and we’ll be doing a limited cocktail menu. We’ll also be doing spirits and bottled beers - there’ll be something for absolutely everybody.”

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Kirsty added that the opening would coincide with Belper’s food festival - which was originally launched by Sam. She said: “My husband started the food festival in Belper - he used to have a shop in town called Fresh Basil. We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to open while the Food Festival is taking place.”