Owners of Whitelock's Ale House to open new food & drink hall in iconic Leeds city centre building

The owners of Whitelock’s Ale House have announced their acquisition of an iconic building in the heart of the city centre. Located just behind the Corn Exchange, the third White Cloth Hall will be transformed into an exciting new food and drink hall in early 2024, and will champion Leeds’ thriving independent food and drink scene.

Originally built in 1775 as a market for merchants to sell undyed or ‘white’ cloth; White Cloth Hall has hosted numerous Leeds businesses over the past 250 years. The Whitelock’s team will be taking on all three existing units, which most recently housed Pizza Express, a BrewDog bar and a hairdressers - returning the premises to a single, unified space.

White Cloth Hall will work closely with independent drinks producers from across the region including Kirkstall Brewery, Anthology and Whitewood Distilling and are keen to provide a platform for the best local independent food traders.

White Cloth Hall is the latest venture from Whitelock’s managing director and co-founder of Five Points Brewing, Ed Mason. Mason and his Whitelock’s team took over and relaunched Whitelock’s in 2012, famous as the oldest pub in Leeds, and most recently Ed opened The Meanwood Tavern in 2022.

The past 12 months have been the busiest yet for the group as Whitelock’s continues to build back since the challenges faced throughout the pandemic. The acquisition and redevelopment of White Cloth Hall is the latest stage in wider expansion and growth plans for Mason and his team.

White Cloth Hall is set to open in Spring 2024 and is open to expressions of interest & enquiries from local independent food and drink traders.

Ed Mason, Whitelock’s Ale House managing director said: “This is such a beautiful and iconic building - we’re really excited about taking it over. At Whitelock’s we celebrate and support local independent breweries and food and drink suppliers - and we’re looking forward to doing the same at White Cloth Hall, on an even bigger scale”

“We think there is massive opportunity for interesting and premium quality hospitality businesses in Leeds and the surrounding region and this new site is part of our wider expansion plans”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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