Christie & Co complete on the sale of closed Nova Seafood & Grill

Nova Seafood & Grill benefits from a prime location on High Bridge Street, which has established itself as one of Newcastle’s most popular licensed and leisure hotspots, with an array of many successful bars, restaurants, and independent retailers.
 
The previous owners, David and Penny Tilly opened the restaurant back in 2018. They have now made the decision to sell to focus on opening their new venture – the Hard Rock Café on Newcastle Quayside.
 
David comments, “We got to know David at Christie & Co when we were looking to buy/open our first restaurant, so when it came to disposing of the High Bridge St site we knew he would be well placed to move it on for us. We had lots of early interest in the restaurant with more than one offer at the time, but we decided to go with Michaels bid. The deal was agreed pre-lockdown and then everything stalled until the announcement that restaurants & bars could re-open. David managed the process brilliantly and helped progress the deal at the earliest opportunity. We’re delighted with the result!”
 
Nova Seafood & Grill has been purchased by Michael Grayson, a successful local businessman who has plans to turn the restaurant into an American-style sports bar that focusses on good quality, fast food with a range of on-trend beers, with his cousin heading up the kitchen. Once the Newcastle outlet has launched, the pair will look to expand the brand in other locations across the North East.

Michael comments, “We’ve been looking for the right site for our concept for a while and when Nova became available, we worked very hard to make sure we were the successful bidders. High Bridge Street is perfect for what we are looking to do – it’s already home to lots of successful, independent businesses and we want to add to that. We will be starting work immediately on turning the venue into an American-style sports bar called Hen & Hops, with a focus on chicken wings, hot sauces and craft beers & ciders. This is definitely a brand we are looking to roll out elsewhere and we’re already working with David Cash at Christie & Co to identify other possible locations for us.”

David Cash, Director at Christie & Co handled the sale and comments, “High Bridge Street has been popular for some time now and with the improvement of the Bigg Market & Groat Market, the area has become even more desirable, so we knew the restaurant would prove popular when we went to market. There was interest from many local, independent operators who all saw an opportunity in a relatively small site in this prime location. It is reassuring that hospitality operators still see value in city centre sites, despite the challenging times we are in and with footfall in the city centre being depleted. We look forward to seeing Michael’s plans take form.”


For further information on this press release, contact:                                                                                
Bronte Hughes, Corporate Communications Executive
P: 020 7227 0794 or E: bronte.hughes@christie.com
 
 
Contact the agent:
David Cash, Associate Director
P: +44 (0) 7736 621 023 or E: David.cash@christie.com