Meet the three young men helping transform food and drink in Blackpool
Blackpool has come a long way in recent years. While much work still needs to be done to tackle inequalities and issues, the town centre has benefited from multi-million pound investment, and as a result, there are new businesses popping up left right and centre.
Jake Whittington, James Lucas and Andy Shields have opened three unique bars and restaurants, with Jake opening a further two with other investors. The trio, called Little Blackpool Leisure Co are now responsible for some of the most popular bars and restaurants across Blackpool. "I walked around the building and it was just perfect. So we went for it and I was still a little bit hesitant just because there was nothing else like what we were planning to do in the town.
Jake said: "With lockdown coming in the near future, it was a case of try and get more seating as quick as possible, because otherwise we've we've only got 40. So there's a whole new different concept, tiki cocktails, that sort of thing. The plan was always to revisit it later, once we got through lockdown, but it kind of just worked, so we left it there.
"Then, we had to react to call it a day, the deliveries went right down because it was coming into summer and people were starting to run out of money I guess. That was difficult mainly for the team.