Around 40,000 people through the doors of Sunderland's new Keel Tavern in first eight weeks of trading

"I'd open another one tomorrow given the opportunity," says the owner of Sunderland's newest bar which has hit the ground running.

It's now been eight weeks since The Keel Tavern opened its doors in Keel Square, the first of four bars to open on the ground floor of The Holiday Inn.

Brought to the city by The Vaulkhard Group, a North East hospitality brand behind some of Newcastle's most-popular bars including Barluga, The Bridge Tavern and Town Wall, The Keel Tavern is their first venue south of the Tyne.

And it's so far proved a success with owner Ollie Vaulkhard saying they're receiving around 5,000 customers a week, equating to 40,000 in its first two months of trading.

Ollie said: "It's a new city for us and we opened just before Christmas to lots of publicity, and with any new venue you expect operational issues. But the customers have been genuinely lovely and we've been very well received.

"We're not a huge chain or brand who opens four new pubs a year, each venue is unique.

"We don't expect to open and be perfect from day one and we welcome any feedback so we can make changes and get it right. We're still learning how customers want to interact with us.

"But Sunderland has been so welcoming. We've had so much support from customers as well as nearby businesses such as The Peacock and The Engine Room, it's been an absolute joy and I don't know why I didn't open a bar here sooner to be honest."

Ollie also praised the council for its support after they approached him to invest in the city.

"The council always sold it to us as a long term vision. All the regeneration is about getting more people living and working in the city centre and staying in the city centre after work and they're creating a city centre with a wider choice of venues for people", said the businessman who owns 19 bars.

"If we're doing well now, we can only expect to do really really well when places like Sheepfolds Stables and the new bridge opens up and there's even more to attract people here," he added.

The Keel Tavern will soon be joined by new neighbour The Botanist, which will open for walk ins from January 30.

Ollie said: "We're really looking forward to The Botanist opening, looking through the window at the work going on it looks great and it can only complement the offering in Keel Square, rather than taking anything away from existing businesses."

The Keel Tavern has proved particularly popular with the match day crowd, but Ollie says they've also had a lot of mid-week business thanks to people being out and about Christmas shopping, as well as a strong evening crowd.

As is the case with any hospitality business, January may well be a quieter month, but The Botanist is likely to draw a lot of people to the area.

Other additions in Keel Square include The Muddler, also due to open in 2024, and Culture House, due to open in 2025.

Meanwhile, work has started on the new pedestrian bridge which will follow the line of the Keel Line in Keel Square linking the south side of the Riverside regeneration to Sheepfolds Stables, which will host food and drink businesses as well as entertainment space when it opens in spring / summer 2024.