Michelsberg Tailoring Newcastle is now open for business!
After months of desk research and discussion with our Newcastle based customers, George and I jumped on the train to walk the streets and finalise arrangements.
My last trip to Newcastle was on a GCSE Geography field trip, so it was vital to get a feel for the place and meet suppliers.
What a cracking city. In many ways it reminded me of Leeds – atmospheric, compact, a mixture of beautiful old buildings (their Central Arcade is very much like the Victoria Quarter) and modern architecture.
Moving forward we are going to be operating in a private area out of the Malmaison Hotel, situated on the Quayside.
When I started Michelsberg Tailoring thirteen years ago, I used the Malmaison Hotel in Leeds as my base to meet customers, pick cloths and take measurements.
I often joked with their manager Grant, that I spent more time there than most of his staff. It was a great arrangement, helped me keep my overheads down, and their staff had an attitude to service that reflected my own high standards.
The Malmaison in Newcastle was cut from the same cloth. It’s modern, quirky, a great place to treat our customers to a glass of wine or cocktail, the staff were very attentive and they did a rocking smoked salmon sandwich.
Our first victims are already lined-up in the diary on Tuesday 12th December, and that’s thanks to the hard work of my latest protégé, George Lewis (pictured below).
Our next trip following that will be on Wednesday the 24th January and then we plan to visit twice a month, increasing this as our customer base swells.
My experience of kitting out Geordies at Michelsberg HQ has been nothing but pleasurable. Great fun, enthusiastic, well up for a bit of banter and certainly willing to go for something different.
During our research, the help, advice and time they’d clearly spent spreading the word and recommending useful partners was totally unexpected and hugely appreciated.
So here we go. Our next adventure begins.
Howay, George! May the Toon embrace you and bring you the success you deserve.