Leamington bar is offering cocktail and jewelry making classes as part of expansion thanks to post-Covid business support

Pictured (left to right): Cllr Kam Kaur, Gillian Dale (both Warwickshire County Council), Caroline Trainor (Chamber), Louise Hart. Picture submitted.

A Leamington bar is bouncing back from lockdown by offering a range of classes for customers thanks to post-Covid business support.

Hart + Co in Augusta Place, offers a range of classes from cocktail making through to jewellery making and is also planning to create extra space to offer more opportunities for private hire.

The bar in Augusta Place, which opens on seven days a week and employs 12 people, has been helped by Project Warwickshire – a free recovery and growth business support programme to help companies in the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the county, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Project Warwickshire is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Warwickshire County Council.

The support is delivered by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Shakespeare’s England and Northern Warwickshire Tourism.

Louise Hart, who opened Hart + Co four years ago after gaining several years of experience in the hospitality sector, said: “

“I always say that I owe this business and the fact we are here to the Chamber.

“I was at a point a few years ago when it was my dream to open the venue but I knew I needed some help and I spoke to the council who pointed me in the direction of the Chamber.

“The advice I received was amazing and really helped me to launch the business and get started in the right way.

"I’d worked in hospitality but I had no idea of all the things I’d need to know to start a business.

“More recently, I’ve had some additional help on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic when Marie Stephenson from the Chamber has given me one-to-one help.

“It’s been so helpful.

"Marie has helped me with everything from pricing to help us become more profitable right through to marketing.

"We are now, we believe, the most followed bar in Leamington on Instagram.”

For more information about Hart + Co visit the bar’s website https://www.hartrestaurants.co.uk/