Coopers Yard: Holmfirth couple aims to challenge perceptions of market town with new food hall

Titled Coopers Yard, the new food hall sits in a converted abattoir, out the back of O’Briens Bottle Shop, which was once a prolific butchers shop in Holmfirth. The renovation and construction work on the new site was completed by Elland-based Nu Construction, and seeks to showcase many original features of the building, including its tiled walls and Huddersfield-made brick work.

With their plans initially slowed down by the pandemic, Elena and Luke originally launched their business as an online craft beer shop.

“We came up with the idea to do the bar in around 2020, after a trip to America,” says Luke, speaking from the couple’s home, where they are currently raising their nine-month-old child.

“We always wanted to do something like that, and while we were over there we came up with this big plan to get a property, but as we were there, the pandemic blew up. At the start it didn't seem like a big thing, but then on the day we were flying back it turned out we had the last flight out of Miami Airport before they locked down the borders.

“We got back and had all these plans to open this craft beer bar, but obviously that wasn't a possibility, so we started an online version. Our whole thing was to do exclusively British craft beer - as a way to separate ourselves.

“That did well online, so we just held on doing it as long as possible while we looked for an appropriate location.”

The couple eventually settled on the site of the former Mettrick Bros butchers shop, whose tiled logo still sits in the bar’s entrance.

After stripping back the remnants of what had since become an Age UK shop, the couple uncovered terrazzo flooring and decorated tiled walls, and turned the space into O’Brien’s Bottle Shop.

“We left it as it was and restored it as much as possible, and we’ve just been going from strength to strength,” adds Luke, who previously worked as a graphic designer before launching O’Briens.

In January of last year, the couple’s plans took on a new dimension after they found that the former abattoir connected to Mettrick Bros would soon be coming up for sale. The couple decided to transform the site, which had become a power tools servicing shop since the closing of Mettrick Bros, into a spin-out of O’Brien’s Bottle Shop.

As well as housing food vendors, Elena and Luke also plan to hold night markets at the site, in a bid to bring back the market town feel to Holmfirth.

“I think Holmfirth is one of those places – it has always had its name as being a market town – but it's sort of lost that,” says Elena.

“We have a market a couple of times a week, but it's very small. I think this is about bringing back that idea of a market town and making something that everyone is proud of.

“There are a lot of creative people here, mainly independent businesses, and I think bringing everything together under one roof would be a really good idea. It’s worked in places like Barnsley, and it's changed everything around it.”

Originally from Barnsley, Elena previously worked in marketing for a Leeds-based graphic design firm.

The couple’s plan for Coopers Yard also forms part of what they view as a tipping point for Holmfirth.

“I think Holmfirth is in a transitional period,” says Luke, “the town is very famous amongst a certain kind of people for its connection to the TV series Last of the Summer Wine, so it has this kind of old Yorkshire touristy feel. There are lots of nice hills and people can reminisce about the good old days when Yorkshire was all about cups of tea and chips and gravy.

“But it's been over a decade now since that show aired, and I think this is a good point to ask what the future holds for Holmfirth. There's a sense that this is a tipping point, where we can carry on down the road of charity shops and Last of the Summer Wine, or we can turn it into a real powerhouse of a place to live.

“Holmfirth is less than an hour away from the three of the biggest cities in the north, which makes it this really desirable place to live, but if we’re going to make it this desirable place, we need to have the kind of infrastructure and things available to people to keep them here at the weekend, and to bring new people in.

“There is a current and a thread of businesses in the area doing things that aren't typical. I think it will have a knock on effect where we’ll see lots of fresh businesses opening in Holmfirth over the next five years. I'm not saying we’re responsible for that, but I feel like we're part of that action.”

Coopers Yard is now open Thursday to Sunday between 4PM and 10PM.Businesses holding space at Coopers Yard include Sheffield-based karachi inspired street food vendor, Bina’s Kitchen, and US “low ’n’ slow” BBQ food seller Koben Smokehouse. Cucina Romana, a traditional Roman pasta business from Huddersfield and Step Out Coffee, also based in Huddersfield, have also taken space in the food hall.