STACK to Open Four New Venues in 2025
The success of a leading North East-based leisure company is set to continue this year, with plans to open four new venues.
STACK – which creates food and entertainment hubs by using repurposed shipping containers or giving new life to redundant buildings – had a highly successful 2024, with the opening of three new sites.
And that is set to be topped in 2025, with the company confirming that another four of its sites will open in the next 12 months.
The highly anticipated flagship site at the historic Worswick Chambers remains on track to open in late spring as STACK Newcastle.
Located close to the original STACK, this large-scale development will be the biggest to date, featuring eight bars, eight street food vendors, a coffee shop, a cocktail bar, and SIDESHOW – a competitive socialising area offering interactive shuffleboard, interactive darts, and private karaoke booths. The venue will also boast a roof terrace and an outdoor courtyard with a stage and big screen.
This will be followed in the summer by STACK Bishop Auckland, a purpose-built two storey building with a roof terrace at Newgate Street, with STACK Durham due to open in the autumn in the city’s former Marks & Spencer store.
STACK Whitley Bay – housed in the former Empress Ballroom – is also scheduled to open in the winter.
Neill Winch, CEO of STACK, confirmed that alongside these projects, progress is also being made on several other sites across the country.
“We are at varying stages with our sites in Sheffield, Leeds, Carlisle, Wigan, Northampton, and Manchester, but we are making great progress with all of them,” he said.
Plans also include developing a second phase at STACK Seaburn in Sunderland, with planning applications now going through the official process.
This continued growth follows the success of the three STACK venues that launched last year.
STACK Lincoln, which opened in May, completely reimagined the former Argos store in the city centre, transforming it into a lively destination featuring 10 street food outlets and five bars, a roof terrace and a coffee shop, with a central plaza and stage. Along with SIDESHOW, STACK’s competitive socialising brand.
In August the highly anticipated St. James’ STACK presented by Sela, opened its doors, a leisure hub and fanzone jointly created by STACK and Newcastle United Football Club.
The 2,000 plus capacity venue – made out of more than 50 shipping containers – brought together 11 street food vendors and six bars and became the hottest ticket in town from day one.
The demand was such that food operators had to recruit more staff almost immediately and it has now firmly established itself as one of the city’s go-to places, for football fans, local people and visitors to the city.
Closing out the year, STACK Middlesbrough launched in December, transforming the underpass beneath the A66 into a vibrant hub with five street food outlets, three bars and STACK’s signature programme of top-tier live entertainment.
“We had an incredible year, with all sites performing well above expectations,” said Neill.
“It’s clear that our formula works – a carefully curated mix of excellent quality street food, vibrant bars, and first-class entertainment tailored for everyone.”
