Tapas and ale
Two best friends with a shared passion for craft ale have taken on their first bar in Leamington, building on the success of their micro-brewery business. Gavin Leach and Rob Singleton, who own Windmill Hill Brewing Company, have opened the doors to 44 Café Bar and Bistro on Clarendon Street.
“Our food is inspired by the way we like to eat and drink,” says Rob. “Tapas, done well with big flavours. Tapas is mainly enjoyed with lager and wine, so we wanted to introduce some English craft ale, as well as showing that the complex profiles of ale also complement the profiles of the food we serve.”
IT expansion
IT Made Simple, based in South Birmingham, is expanding its expertise to Solihull and Warwickshire customers. As the name suggests, the company takes the head-scratching out of IT issues, educating customers on avoiding potential problems in the future, and providing ongoing support.
Owner Chris Hodgkiss explains: “I have regularly witnessed consumers struggle to get decent IT support. There seems to be very little in the way of help once warranties have expired, with people waiting weeks for an issue to be solved, many left without any kind of resolution at all. With more people now working from home, technology needs to be available, reliable and operational.”
Ladies first
Inspirational achievers from the Solihull area were among those celebrated at the fifth Ladies First Professional Development Network Business Awards, held recently at Coombe Abbey Hotel.
Winners included Gaynor Matthews of myNexus from Knowle (Excellence In Stem); Karen Jones of The Giles Trust Brain Tumour Fund from Balsall Common (Inspirational Women); and Chloe Hawryluk (Inspirational Young Achiever), Jemma Paterson & Helen Bolus of The Nurture Parenting Collective CIC & Happy Mamas (Achieves In The Community) and Hazel Carter, author/fundraiser for MND (Inspirational Author), all from Solihull.
The winners were selected from hundreds of nominations across the UK and abroad by an independent judging panel.
Molly Olly’s Charity
To celebrate ten years of supporting children with life-threatening illnesses, Molly Olly’s charity has teamed up with The Shakespeare Distillery in Stratford-upon-Avon to launch its own juniper-led premium pink gin, with notes of raspberries, blackberries and Mediterranean citrus.
Arts patronage continues
Lichfield Festival is continuing its partnership with the West Midlands-based McArthurGlen designer outlet. It follows a highly successful relationship in 2022 which included taking the Festival to the retail outlet in Cannock for a pop-up Day of Dance and a Lichfield Literature Festival pop-up which took place at McArthurGlen’s Community Corner in March.
The line-up for this year’s Lichfield Festival, which runs from 6-16 July, includes Lizzie Ball (pictured), Kate Rusby, Nitin Sawhney, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Melissa Errico, Rachel Podger, Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Brodsky Quartet, James Pearson, Danny Driver, Jessica Walker, Tracy Borman and the London Community Gospel Choir.