The Exchange in Waterlooville nears opening as it looks to become a community hub

The News, Portsmouth

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00:00Hi, I'm Calum, this is Steph, we are two of the owners of The Exchange.

00:07And we're really pleased to be part of this new venture, it's part of the Waterloo Regeneration

00:12Effort. We'll be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dancing, cocktails, you can drop in

00:18for a coffee, you can bring your family, we'll be here for pizza as well, and it's such a

00:23pleasure to be able to be awarded a grant by Havant Borough Council to support us in

00:28getting this open. Our goal is to really support the rest of the shops and businesses

00:33in the town and there's a huge effort to improve the area and we're really excited about being

00:38part of that. We'd love to show you around. Yeah, yeah, perfect, perfect. Yeah, so there's

00:43been quite a bit of curiosity about it, obviously it's been an all-day venue, it's been advertised

00:46for a little while now, obviously work's still going on to get it open, but so it's kind

00:50of going to be an all-encompassing, everything, cafe, kind of place for lunch, dinner. That's

00:55right, we'd like to create a community space, somewhere that everybody feels comfortable,

01:01people with toddlers, parents with toddlers, the elderly, groups of friends having a great

01:06night out. You can drop in, you don't have to eat, you can come for a drink, it can be

01:11a real community space. It's been a long time in the making, we took the keys for the property

01:15back in January last year, so it's really taken a while, but the bank was quite a difficult

01:20venue to, the bank was quite a difficult building to redevelop, especially downstairs in the

01:25vault room, which we preserved and turned into toilets, but we know it's been a long

01:30time, it took us a while to get us the licence, because we knew that it was going to be quite

01:34an unusual venue in the town, and it's just cost a lot of money to redevelop, so here

01:40we are, we're proud to be part of a small group of restaurants, and we're hoping that

01:44we've got a good following that will come and join us in this new business. Yeah, so

01:49yeah, obviously you mentioned you have restaurant sales, you've got the likes of Cassia, Chandler's,

01:53it's a dick, is this kind of, as you say, it's an all-encompassing thing, are you taking

01:57bits from the other businesses, things that work, and putting it into here as well, or?

02:01I think we have brought into the exchange all the great stuff that we've introduced

02:06to our other businesses, we're going to have a fantastic menu, our venue in Germany, Cassia

02:12Lounge, which is probably one of the best food offerings that we have, and we've tried

02:17to introduce that quality of food here, we've got a cafe in Clownfield, from where we've

02:22learned that lattes and coffees and cakes are very popular, and we've got a night venue

02:27down in Drayton, which is great for parties, called Cassia, and we'll introduce that

02:31over the evening here as well, so the lights will go down, and the music will go up, absolutely.

02:36Okay, interesting, is that something you'll be doing from the off, that live music, not

02:39live music, but that music, and more of a dancey feel in the evening? Absolutely, I

02:44think there's a nightlife need in Waterlooville, we're not here to be open until two in the

02:49morning every day, but we do want to create a night economy, so that people have somewhere

02:54to go, they can have a short taxi ride here from home, they can leave the children at

02:59home and then come out and have a few cocktails, or a beer of course, and then they can just

03:04get home at a sensible time, and that's what we're trying to create, fun and safe.

03:09And you did mention briefly about food as well, so what type of food will be on offer?

03:12We have a huge menu to offer, so we're here for breakfast, English breakfast in the morning,

03:16pastries, cakes, coffees, milkshakes, that will then turn into a lunch menu, which consists

03:22of jacket potatoes, paminis, fish and chips, and then we will turn into the evening from

03:27about five o'clock, which we have a steak chef joining us, pizza, we have mussels and

03:33seafood coming, so it's a fantastic menu. We are very much hoping to be open week commencing

03:39the 24th of February, we'll have a soft launch for some of our close followers, and we definitely

03:45hope to be up and running by the beginning of March for the public.

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