'We pay no rent at city's new food hall'

Five small businesses are trading rent-free at a Birmingham food hall under a unique model aimed at combining global flavours and support for entrepreneurs.

The Art Quarter Food Hall in Digbeth is giving new enterprises the chance to experiment, allowing tenants to operate for 15 months without paying bills.

Five businesses were chosen from a pool of 200 applicants to get their ideas off the ground. It comes at a time when rising costs are forcing many start-ups to the brink.

Organisers hope the hall will draw people to Digbeth to try the creations of a new generation of food businesses.

The venue is described by bosses as the UK's first fully inclusive halal food hall outside London.

Located on Allison Street, it hopes to become a "new kind of third place" for different communities and cultures to mix.

Sak Hussain, who runs Kacao with his brother Taz, gave up corporate jobs and travelled the world gaining patisserie and pastry skills.

"After travelling I went to the Emirates and felt the cafe culture was just something different," Sak explained. "I just thought I had to bring that back."

The siblings now offer breakfast with a twist, with menu items including pizza croissants.

"I've been in the hospitality industry for 25 years," Taz added.

"This is the first thing that we have kind of done on our own. To have this platform is a fantastic opportunity."

Meanwhile, Halima Bibi and her aunt have developed a new Matcha menu at their food venture Fat Belly.

Bibi is a geography teacher by day but told the BBC she wanted to make her mark on the foodie map.

"Allowing young people like myself… the opportunity to be so close to a city centre is an incredible thing," she said.

"It's incredibly difficult [and] it's very expensive to get your foot in the door these days."

Jordan Patel, the food hall's founder, explained the five businesses had each put up £15,000 of initial funding, which the venue had matched.

Over the 15 months, they will not pay rent, rates or bills, with the hall instead receiving a commission based on their success. The idea is to give them a leg up at a time of increasing difficulty for up-and-coming businesses.

"It's really hard to get city centre locations and this is a space to help start ups get that visibility and be heard [with] a low barrier to entry," Patel said.

"We're huge champions of social cohesion and breaking down social barriers.

"We should be able to have a shared identity, collaborate and co-exist."

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