A popular Newcastle cafe with some of the best views in the city centre is set to stay open after two of the region’s biggest businesses extended their partnership.
Fenwick Newcastle and South Tyneside fashion firm Barbour teamed up last October to open Barbour Tea & Toasties, a cosy cafe overlooking Grey’s Monument serving tea, sweet treats and Barbour-stamped toasted sandwiches.
The companies came together to celebrate the North East as well as mark Barbour’s 30-year anniversary of the Liddesdale quilted jacket, which was designed by its chair Dame Margaret Barbour and helped to catapult the business to global success. The pop up cafe, based on the first floor close above the store’s Blackett Street entrance, proved to be hugely popular in the build up to Christmas, with several Christmas trees set among its tables, and decor with quilted Barbour-style furnishings.
It had been due to close at the end of the year but, due to popular demand, it has now been extended until the end of March.
Brought to life by Fenwick’s expert restaurant team, the pop-up will continue to serve its quirky menu, including the Tyne & Moor Melt, a toastie filled with Berwick Edge cheese & Newcastle Brown Ale Chutney and Howay the Ham, a classic ham and Berwick Edge cheese combination. The menu was created in collaboration with local, independent businesses, with cheese from Berwick Edge and tea from Ringtons.
Leo Fenwick, strategic partnerships director at Fenwick, said: “At Fenwick we are always looking for new and exciting ways to enhance our customer experience and following the incredible response to our Barbour Tea & Toasties pop-up at Fenwick Newcastle, we are delighted to be extending the cafe for another few months so our customers can continue to enjoy this new and delicious experience in the city.
“We are immensely proud of our partnership with Barbour and to be collaborating on their first cafe concept in the world tells a unique story of two, iconic North East brands, evolving and innovating together. We look forward to launching the new Barbour collections across our stores and online this coming year, with more special collaborations from Barbour, which highlight the partnership and why Fenwick and the city of Newcastle is such an important shopping destination in the UK.”
Paul Wilkinson, Barbour group commercial director and deputy group managing director said: “We’re delighted that so many people from Newcastle and across the region have enjoyed the Tea and Toasties pop-up in Fenwick. It forms part of our wider plans for 2025 in building our valued partnership with Fenwick, a fellow North East family-owned brand. The New Year will see new clothing, accessories and footwear collections together with globally recognised collaborations launch with Fenwick to excite and delight customers.”
The two family firms share a rich heritage in the region, with a collective 274 years of history between them, with Fenwick being founded in 1882 in Newcastle and Barbour being founded in South Shields in 1894.