Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 19/06/2026 20:29:00

Be At One is a specialist cocktail bar chain, and its Birmingham branch sits on Stephenson Street in the heart of the city centre, a few steps from New Street Station and the Grand Central complex. Like the rest of the group, it is a drink-led venue built around an extensive cocktail list and a high-energy, party-focused evening atmosphere rather than a food offer. The company was founded in May 1998 by Steve Locke, Leigh Miller, and Rhys Oldfield, three bartenders who had worked together at TGI Fridays in London and wanted to create a bar that put drink quality and service ahead of design gimmicks. Their first site opened on Battersea Rise in south London, and the format - centred on what the founders called cocktail theatre, with a menu that grew to around 101 cocktails - proved popular enough to expand steadily across the country. By the late 2010s the brand had grown to more than thirty bars in prime high-street locations across major UK towns and cities, with a strong cluster in central London. In July 2018 the chain was acquired by the Stonegate Pub Company, owner of brands such as Slug and Lettuce and Yates's, in a deal reported at around 50 million pounds, after which the three founders stepped away from the business. The Birmingham bar reflects the group template: skilled bartenders mixing classic and signature cocktails, regular drinks promotions and happy hours, and resident DJs driving a lively party mood as the evening builds. Its position among the shops, stations, and offices of the central core makes it a convenient spot for after-work drinks, pre-night-out gatherings, and weekend celebrations. Be At One became known for its bartender culture, with staff trained to mix a broad classic and contemporary list at speed and pushed through internal cocktail competitions, part of the wider boom in British cocktail bars through the 2000s and 2010s. Branches typically run two-for-one and happy-hour deals earlier in the week before shifting to a DJ-driven party mood at weekends, and the scale of the menu - around a hundred drinks - is itself part of the draw. In Birmingham the Stephenson Street bar sits in the heart of the retail and transport core around New Street and Grand Central, a busy after-work and pre-night-out catchment well suited to the brand's sociable, drink-led format.