Live events key to attracting diners says restauranteur

The boss of Annie’s Burger Shack is urging more hospitality venues in Derby to start staging events to entice people back into the city centre.

Annie Spaziano, who operates the Friary Street restaurant, believes venues need to be more creative and look beyond their traditional offerings in the current tough trading conditions.

For Annie’s Burger Shack, live events have proven to be key in bringing people into the city centre.

Earlier this year, the business hired its first-ever events and promotions manager Will Bailey.

Since then, it has already hosted a diverse range of activities at its Derby restaurant, as well as at its sister branch in Nottingham, including live wrestling, a record fair, drag bingo, a Weezer tribute act and film sing-along events.

Annie’s is also launching a comedy night with Just the Tonic at Derby and this summer will play host to a number of special events at both restaurants.

The business serves its food and drinks to customers during the events and operates its usual restaurant service at other times.

Annie said: “We’ve always hosted live events such as quiz nights and intimate gigs, but Will joining the team means that we can host bigger and more ambitious events, and these are really working well for us.

“People were queuing out of the door for the wrestling, and it was fantastic to see people we’ve never had visited us before buying tickets and coming along to enjoy themselves.

“Everyone knows how tough it is out there at the moment and footfall in our city centres is down, but live events are just what our industry needs because we’re showing that if you give people something different then they’ll come along.

“We’re fortunate that we have a wonderful venue at Derby that can host bigger events like the wrestling and we’re making the most of it.”