A North East catering company has been appointed to provide wedding and event catering at one of Newcastle’s most significant historic venues.
Jacob & Tori Caterers will be working with the team at The Common Room, which is leading the regeneration of the Grade II* listed Neville Hall – formerly known to most as The Mining Institute.
Following a two-year refurbishment, the venue is scheduled to reopen later this year and will be available to hire for weddings and corporate events.
Matt Daniel, Catering Manager, said: “The Common Room is an exciting project to be involved in and we’re really happy to be a part of the team there, from the very start.
“From designing the new menus to coordinating the kitchen and front of house teams, we’re now busy making sure that everything is ready for the launch of the venue.”
Liz Mayes, Chief Executive of the Common Room, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Matt and his team to The Common Room and to work together on shaping the food and drink offer. When we welcome our very first wedding parties and corporate guests into the building later this year we will have a first-class catering offer, befitting of such a stunning building.”
Neville Hall was built between 1869 and 1872 to provide a headquarters for The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, which holds the largest publicly accessible collection of mining information in the world.
It will reopen as The Common Room in late 2020 and will act as a hub for innovation and engineering in Newcastle city centre, with a range of spaces available for corporate hire and weddings, providing capacity for up to 350 guests.
Spaces available for hire include the spectacular Wood Hall; the smaller Lecture Theatre, which was the site of ground-breaking lectures in engineering during the 19th century; and the Arbitration Room, where mine owners and workers would meet to settle disputes over working conditions.
In November 2016 the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £600,000 to The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers to undertake an extensive development phase. In July 2018, The Common Room of the Great North was awarded £4.1m by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to revitalise the Grade II* listed Mining Institute, transforming it into The Common Room.
The Common Room is now seeking to raise £1m in match funding to support the capital project and is inviting businesses and individuals to get in touch to discuss exclusive partnership and giving opportunities.
The Common Room of the Great North is a registered charity, number 1175946.