Pop up plant shop in Sheffield to be turned into city's first alcohol-free bar

Ata Azadi, who said he previously worked in a top restaurant in Tehran that was a favourite among celebrities, was given the go-ahead to turn 285 Ecclesall Road into the new venture.

Sheffield Council’s sub-licensing committee granted permission with conditions that required him to fix issues with the bathrooms and ramp to make them compliant with building regulations after the health protection service objected.

Mr Azadi was joined by other members of the business to make their case during the meeting including Jwan Butimar, the owner who ran Plant Parenthood there, and Rob Collins, the general manager.

Talking about their plans, Mr Collins said: “We are trying to offer something different for Sheffield that doesn’t exist. Generally, if you go to any bar they will have two or three mocktails that are just fruit in a glass.

"What we are trying to provide is a safe, calm environment for different communities to come and try something they may not have had before. As an example, I’ve created something like an Aperol spritz, it tastes exactly the same as a real Aperol. So we won’t be having drunk people but we will still have a high level of product.

“I’ve spent weeks and months researching this. Most alcohol free products pose as alcohol free but when you actually do the research it’s up to 0.5…but we are going as a full alcohol-free venue. There are some places in London but it doesn’t exist in Sheffield so we will create something new and unique and amazing to give back to the community.

“Otherwise people of different religions go to venues and they don’t agree with it or they don’t want their children to be sat next to people who are three bottles of wine in. So what we are offering is something really special.”

Most recently, the building was used for a pop up plant shop called Plant Parenthood that sold a variety of succulents.

Ms Butimar started selling plants from her house in Sheffield via Facebook Marketplace and ran pop up shops due to the high demand before opening at 285.