Today we're speaking to Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons.

Ben started a company called Venue Group where he is CEO, his brother CFO (who comes from running Soho Houses finance) and his dad the chairman.

Venue Group is the company that brought us Flat Iron Square in Southwark and Goods Way in Kings Cross (which launched in March just one week before lockdown).

He’s on a mission to create more grassroots music venues in London and help build the live music and night scene. His thinking is that we need to bridge the gap between being massive and people having no idea who you are. That’s why grassroots venues are so important.”

Omeara was the first live music venue to launch occupying 3 of the arches in Flat Iron Square the rest of would be be food and drink vendors which ben ended up taking management of It seemed a natural next step as music food and nightlife all go hand in hand.

Flat iron square is a massive laid back outdoor food hall that is gorgeous for summer time but works just as well all throughout winter. They have vendors like Mother Clucker who we spoke to last week, Breddos, Where The Pancakes Are, and Lupins.

Then just before lockdown Goods Way in Kings X launched which included the live music venue Lafayette and indoor food and drinks hall.

The vibe of Goods Way is more cleaned up with a New Orleans cobbled streets and iron balconies theme running throughout. They have a very cool looking bar that looks like a modern twist on an old time southern saloon. Some of the same vendors from ft iron moved over with them like Breddos but they have also brought in new vendors like Duck Truck, Temple of Seitan and Sushi on Jones the much loved sushi place in NYC.

Sadly Goodsway was only open for a week before lockdown but it promises to please once it is safe to get back in there.

Something i really loved from what Ben said was that he wasn't creating a venue that was about the brand staying and that being the end of the road for them. In fact it was quite the opposite - he wants Flat Iron Square and Goods Way to be launching points for these guys. He wants then to benefit from the collective footfall and then carry on growing into something of their own eventually. Much like the path Mother Clucker are on.

Something else I love is that he has sort of taken on this role of helping build the economy both here in London and in the US. He explains some of the work he does with the government to understand how venues like his help to provide jobs and strengthen the economy for the towns and cities they are in.

So we will weave in and out of music and food throughout the episode as it is all part of his story.

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