Queen of Hockley boss saw gap in the market

NEW PUB FROM CO-FOUNDER OF FAT CAT HOPES TO APPEAL TO AN OLDER CROWD RATHER THAN STUDENTS OUT FOR CHEAP DRINKS

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

WITH such a huge student population in Nottingham, it sometimes feels like fast food and cheap drinks dominate the city's nightlife.

However, newcomer the Queen of Hockley will be attracting a slightly older crowd.

The pub is Matt Saunders' second venue, following on from the success of the Queen of Bradgate in Leicester, which was given a new lease of life in 2014.

"Leicester is great and we've had ten good years there. On weekend nights the atmosphere gets lively nothing too deafening and nothing aimed at too young either," he said.

"We do go for an older crowd. We don't particularly compete on price, which tends to rule out a lot of the young people. They just want cheap.

I know my daughter does when she's out on the town in Liverpool with uni friends - it's all about price." Work is well under way on transforming the former Revolution bar in Broad Street, Hockley.

The bar, famed for its flavoured vodka shots, closed in August after 27 years.

Matt said: "I have been hanging out for a site in Hockley for years. We are considering ourselves very fortunate to have got this site and think it will be worth the stress and sleepless nights" Matt previously had his eye on another property in nearby Carlton Street, but it ended up as Vietnamese restaurant Pho.

"That's a great site. They were brave enough to take that during lockdown and I wasn't.