Fittingly, the origin of 1000 Trades lies in a boozy night. “We got drunk,” says John Stapleton, motioning at co-owner Jonathan Todd, “and one thing led to another.”
A former political researcher, Stapleton had been trying to “germinate” his vision of the ultimate modern boozer for years. An economist and resident of Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, Todd was the friend-cum-fixer who, in 2016, finally helped him realise his plans.
“I thought we could do this craft beer-slash-pub thing better,” says Stapleton. “Most kids into fashionable craft wouldn’t touch cask beer; there was apartheid between cold, fizzy craft and old-man Camra pubs, but you can bring the two together. Cask is great. The other clash was between a traditional pub feel and the clinical aesthetic of the typical craft beer bar. I hope we smashed the two together.”
The result is a “pub” which, across four cask and six keg lines (and 40+ bottles), showcases the best in British and West Midlands beer from breweries such as Burning Soul, Dig and Attic. The house bitter, OTT, travels 200 yards from the Rock & Roll Brewhouse. A similar emphasis on non-mainstream, artisan products runs across the back bar, from locally roasted Quarter Horse coffee to 10 natural wines.
A sense of warmth and inclusivity is palpable in how 1000 Trades looks and feels – and even sounds on its DJ nights. “It’s extraordinary how often you go in places and it’s a din,” says Todd. This former light-industrial workshop – one of many listed buildings in the Jewellery Quarter that now house bars, restaurants or office spaces – has hip art on the walls and a “ragged” unfinished look, but it is also a cosy nook on a dark night.
In the 19th century Birmingham was known as “the city of a thousand trades” and by hosting jazz and comedy upstairs, a Slow Food grocery distribution point or meet-ups for coders, crafters and homebrewers, Todd and Stapleton hope to turn 1000 Trades into a similar collaborative hub for culture and creativity.Todd talks of 1000 Trades helping to cultivate a healthy civic pride: “Places having a sense of themselves is important in the contemporary world. That’s something we could have a role in.”