This Sheffield tea room is a Harry Potter lover’s dream and is gearing up for a grand reopening next week.
The steel boiler in Broomhill was closed for seven months after two coronavirus lockdowns forced it to close its doors.
Married couple Rob and Nikki Downham only opened the bar and tea room last July and are hoping to reopen in the long term from May 17th.
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The bar and tea room are a magical marvel based on the blockbuster Harry Potter films with magical food and drink, activities, a gift shop and their own themed apartment.
Owner Rob said the past seven months have been extremely tough and they look forward to fully opening the doors again.
He said, “It was really very difficult.
“We thought we opened at the perfect time and managed to avoid the Covid bans.
In the steel boiler in Sheffield
(Image: The steel boiler)
“But the best way to describe it is that we opened in the eye of the storm. Everything seemed fine, but then we were hit by a series of locks worse than the first lock.”
The company saw a huge drop in bookings and had to refund thousands of pounds to customers who had booked.
They had to close the doors and then endure the uncertainty of when to open again.
Rob added, “It was so hard and our staff found it really hard.
“We managed to open a Santa Claus grotto in December, but then had to face the reality that we probably wouldn’t open after the New Year.
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“I thought it was likely we would open by March, but when we heard on the roadmap that it would be May we couldn’t believe it and had to go back to the drawing board entirely.
“It completely threw the business plan for the year out of the window and we had to think about what we could do.”
During the time they were closed, Rob and Nikki were working on the Steel Wizards Rest, the themed apartment above the building, spending time updating the kitchen and floors.
By April, they decided to open as a shop and for take-away drinks before opening an outside area when the weather was better.
Now they have a number of plans for when they can be fully reopened to customers next week.
Inside the steel boiler on Spooner Road, Sheffield
(Image: The steel boiler)
Rob said, “Closing it down allowed us to completely reconfigure ourselves and think about how we got the layout inside.
“We now have a dedicated room for all of our bookings and activities, including wand-making, magic classes, and potion-making.
“We have also created a new Marvello’s Magic Ices ice cream station, which offers different types of ice cream with magical toppings.
“We can also make some amazing milkshakes that have proven very popular.
“We also have more space for our business now, so people can look around more freely and see exactly what we have to offer.”
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On the subject of matching items
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On the subject of matching items
As part of The Steel Cauldron’s reopening, the tea room and bar also made a special offer to welcome people back.
The sessions were fully booked within 15 minutes, but from now on the same offer will run every Monday.
For £ 7.50 you can book a Wizard Burger (locally sourced beef, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free) and Marvello’s Magical Ice Cream.
Once it reopens, Zorba’s Greek Food will also be on offer next door so you can have delicious street food right to your table.
Rob added, “We can’t wait to bring more people back through the doors.
The shop in the steel kettle
(Image: The steel boiler)
“Hopefully we can book more people during the day and then I can give my employees leave and give them more confidence about which days they have to work.
“We can’t wait to get started again as we have so much to offer.”
For more information or to book, visit Steel Cauldron’s website.