Future of shut Gloucester pub lies with opening of huge Forum project, says council chief

A closed Gloucester city centre pub will be let after The Forum is completed, according to council chiefs. Gloucester City Council went out to tender for the lease of The Chambers pub in Kings Square earlier this year. At least one bid was submitted for the 3,500 sq ft which included a vision for a pub with cafe, food and games space.

But so far no successful bidder has been announced for the site. Council leader Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton) says the site is still being marketed and that the authority has been receiving enquiries about the site.

He believes there will be an announcement over the site once all the work is completed at the nearby £107m Forum project. “We've got people inquiring about it," he said.

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"The timing of when the Chambers will be let is probably when the Forum opens. It will get a better income for the local authority and probably be a better project all around.

"It's an effectively visibly valued site for the council, but obviously we need to get somebody in there. I think the job is to complete what we've got to do with the Forum.

"Once we get all the open space done we’ll get [the Chambers] done. Then I think there'll be more people taking an interest in it.”

The Chambers pub closed during the early days of the pandemic and has not reopened since. The City Council is offering the site on a leasehold basis and is seeking businesses that can enhance the vision for the recently revamped Kings Square.

It is hoped that a new occupier will be able to make the site a destination for both daytime and evening activity and create a café culture perhaps promoting the region’s talented food and drink producers.

Whoever its new tenants are, they will occupy a key location, linking Kings Square and the refurbished Kings Walk Shopping Centre with The Forum, the completed Whitefriars development and the soon to be completed university campus in the former Debenhams building.

Above the site is Kings House where the council has worked with partners to establish a cultural hub for Jolt, an incubator for creative and cultural businesses and entrepreneurs, and The Music Works, with music studios, teaching rooms and performance spaces.

The square reopened in 2022, after undergoing a facelift by the council and its partners Reef Group, with the installation of sweeping granite seating areas, water fountains, greenery and atmospheric lighting inspired by the Severn Bore.