New South Shields venue The Dockyard proves runaway success, attracting 12,000 customers in first month

Situated outside the Sea Hotel, the street food venue and bar opened on April 12 when restrictions on outdoor hospitality were eased.

Its large outdoor seating area offers live music and a resident DJ each week, as well as live sport on big screens.

A range of street food vendors are on site every day, including El Coddo, Chapos Tacos, Twisted Chicks, Los Churro & Waffle, Acropolis and Wood Fired Pizzas.

Kyrie Geach, manager of The Dockyard, said: “The Dockyard is proving to be a wonderful addition to the seafront and has attracted thousands of customers who have enjoyed our outdoor drinking and eating experience and generated lots of positive feedback.

“With our mix of live music and a range of street food vendors, we are quickly becoming the place to safely relax and chill out with friends and family.”

In its first week of opening The Dockyard received 4,000 bookings and welcomed hundreds of walk-in customers.

Even April’s mixed bag of weather failed to deter customers, thanks to the venue’s fire pits and tent coverage, which manager Kyrie credits as a big part in its initial success.

"Even though we’re outside, customers are very well protected from the weather by a giant stretch tent and kept warm by our firepits, which have helped our popularity,” she said.

“In our first month of opening, we’ve welcomed almost 12,000 customers, including more than 4,000 bookings and several hundred walk-in customers in the first week alone.”

And with major sporting events on the horizon, including the European Championship, The Dockyard has already received thousands of bookings for those wanting to watch them on the big screens.

Kyrie added: "We also have more than 6,000 pre-bookings for the coming months, many of which are to watch the upcoming European Championship.”

But The Dockyard has admitted that some customers have faced issues when ordering food. One customer says she was charged for food that she did not receive and struggled to get a refund.

A Dockyard spokesman said: “This was an isolated occurrence in the digital ordering process, which has been resolved with the customer and we regret any inconvenience caused.”

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