IT hasn't always been smooth sailing for a darts and gaming bar celebrating its two-year anniversary but they have hit the bullseye with plans for the future.

For The Dart Side, which opened on Angel Place in July 2022, reaching this impressive milestone seemed a tall order at times.

Co-owner Mike Davis said: "It was a big risk when we opened the place. The building has an interesting past, so it needed big investment from Dan [Charlton] and myself.

"We put everything into The Dart Side to get it to this point. It's been a long, hard two years of ups and downs, but we're grateful to still be here."

The venue opened amidst a cost-of-living crisis, forcing it to adapt quickly.

Mr Davis said: "Opening a brand-new venue in hospitality is always challenging, and the last two years have been difficult.

"The cost-of-living crisis had kicked in, and so spending money on the weekends is usually what disappears first.

"We've had to learn how to change and adapt, and analyse what people want, price points, and introduce promotional offers."

"We started making use of our kitchen space last year, introducing in-house pizzas, and we have doubled our staffing since we first opened."

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The Dart Side has also opened an ice cream parlour this weekend which is located beside its main entrance.

Mr Davis added: "Our ice cream will be offered all year round, but we have this room that initially we weren't sure what to do with - so over two years we have developed this parlour idea.

"All of our games are indoors of course, so this addition was designed to help with our summer trade."

Another challenge felt by The Dart Side's owners is the lack of regeneration in their part of the city centre.

Mr Davis added: "We had hoped that the council would have began regenerating the Scala Theatre opposite us and the surrounding area by now, but that hasn't happened yet.

"So we feel a bit short-changed by that, as the plans seemed quite grand when we first opened The Dart Side.

"This part of the city centre needs more going on."