Cambridge Street Collective: I returned to the UK’s best food hall to discover why it's so successful

Cambridge Street Collective is home to 24 kitchens, four bars, a cookery school, a rooftop terrace, and various dining and entertainment spaces.

Each year since opening, Cambridge Street Collective has been crowned winner of the UK’s Best Food Hall at the British Street Food Awards 2024 and 2025. It has also been recognised as one of Europe's top food halls by National Geographic for its community atmosphere.

Our reporter Sophie Mei Lan returned to the food hall to see why it’s so successful.

Cambridge Street Collective is the brainchild of the Blend Family, the company behind Cutlery Works, which was Sheffield’s first major independent food hall in 2018 in Kelham Island.

Cutlery Works food hall helped cement Kelham Island as a thriving independent foodie quarter in the city, with people travelling far and wide to taste the cuisine and drink at the area’s microbreweries.

Opening a larger sister food hall, Cambridge Street Collective, in a quieter part of the city centre as part of Sheffield’s £470m Heart of the City project seemed much more of an ambitious task.

This time I entered Cambridge Street Collective around the back after walking through Leah’s Yard, which is a small maker’s quarter, also part of the development.

To the right is Pounds Park- a free outdoor play area, and ahead is this now iconic food hall. No matter what time or day, I have visited Cambridge Street Collective, and it is always a hubbub of activity.

They have a range of free family activities, cooking classes, and a play area. The food hall itself is vast with plenty of dining areas and bars. Walking through, you can’t help but explore all the traders, which offer everything from Egg-based brunch sandwiches to ramen bowls, bubble tea, and a Palestinian Kitchen.

Throughout the week, they offer unlimited tea and coffee to co-workers, and kids eat free during the school holidays.

People often dine solo, or at weekends when groups do come together, it means everyone can whet their appetite with whatever takes their fancy.

If you want something that feels more of a treat, or a food hall feels too much of a sensory overload for you, Kyoyu and the rooftop terrace bar offers a quieter comfortable sanctuary at the top.

Far from being an exclusive food haven I had originally feared, Cambridge Street Collective has managed to build its own thriving community that welcomes people from all walks of life. There’s such a vast offering here, all inside this stunning venue, which blends Sheffield’s rich industrial past with its modern state-of-the-art new generation of food businesses.

Operators Blend Family not only runs Cambridge Street Collective and Cutlery Works in Sheffield, it also owns Kargo MKT in Salford, Tower Bridge Collective in London, and Alfred Works in Birmingham. This is alongside their Community Interest Company Blend Culinary Foundation, which supports people facing food poverty.