Why Costello's bar has come to Time Square

And so the family-run business has it.

The bar in Time Square has opened today, Friday, and John Costello feels the unit – which they first enquired about when it was being built – is the icing on the cake for the family.

“The three are doing well, so we thought it was about time we did a showpiece which is what this is,” said John.

“We’re not doing food, we’re just doing what we are good at – brewing and selling beer.

“We just thought it was the right place for us.

“We’ve got our other three outlets and having the other outlets makes it easier, you’re not reliant on other people.”

The Costello family have bars in Stockton Heath, Lymm, Altrincham and now Warrington town centre.

Their brewed beers come from their own Dunham Massey Brewing Company and Lymm Brewing Company which provides the likes of Lymm Bitter and Bridgewater Blonde on tap.

Inside the bar

The bar area

Having originally set their eyes on a November opening, coronavirus has made the task tougher but they were happy to wait.

The 63-year-old continued: “We’ve had issues with materials, tradespeople having Covid and it’s just taken a long time.

“We’ve made sure we have done everything right so if we need to wait for things, we have waited for things.

“It makes it even sweeter when we open.”

John, from Woolston, explained how the project involves Warrington in every aspect.

He added: “We have invested a lot of money, we have used all of the best materials and we have used all local people in building it.

“It’s all local including the work and the ales for local people. All the money that we make goes back to our local breweries.

“And for the size of the brewery, with two Champion Beer of Britain awards, we’ve had more awards than any other brewer in the country as far as I’m aware.”

Some of the seating arrangements in Costello's

The brewery involves John's sons Anthony, who has been designing the Time Square bar and Jason, who has been looking after the brewery.

Anthony Costello, of Whittle Hall, spent time in Manchester and Liverpool for inspiration and to get a feel for what is popular.

READ MORE > Inside new bar Costellos 

He said: “I was trying to go for a warm and industrial look. The unit calls for an industrial vibe with it being high but at the same time, a lot of industrial places can feel cold.

“With real ale you want it to be warmer hence we put the fire in, the warm furniture and trying to blend the two things together which I think we have just about managed to do.

“I’m very much looking forward to people coming in and enjoying it.”