25 new jobs created as £2m Mediterranean restaurant officially opens in Leeds

25 new jobs have been created as a new £2m Mediterranean restaurant has officially opened in Weetwood, North Leeds.

Over 150 guests attended the official launch of ‘Convive’, which forms part of the University of Leeds-owned Weetwood Hall estate.

Live music and dishes ranging from sashimi grade tuna steak and Ibérico pulled pork burger to brodetto di pesce (traditional fish stew from Tuscany) and Galician beef, were on offer to the guests.

The new 120 seat restaurant and bar, located on the outskirts of the city centre, also features an alfresco area under a retractable roof within the gardens.

Convive will be twinned with Mediterranean restaurants across Europe with chef swaps and ingredient sourcing on quality food and drink. Many ingredients used in the dishes on the menu will also be sourced from local Yorkshire suppliers.

As part of the £2m spend, £500k was invested into the kitchens with a brand new build and kit installation.

Convive is the vision of Martin Hicks, managing director of Weetwood Hall who, over the past 25 years, has been responsible for establishing Weetwood Hall as a successful hotel and conference venue in the region.

The profits from the Weetwood estate including Convive will be gift aided to the University of Leeds, which owns Weetwood Hall. The money will be used to fund research and development projects and for students’ benefit.

Several million pounds has been donated over the past two decades purely from profits generated by Weetwood Hall.

Martin commented: “Convive has been in planning for a long time and I’m delighted my original vision has finally become a reality.

“Not only is it a great way to build on 25 years of success at Weetwood Hall but it’s an impressive addition to the restaurant and bar scene in Leeds.

“We’ve created a true destination restaurant to rival anything in the city centre so to have such a high-quality establishment out of the centre will provide a real alternative to visitors looking for something different.

“I’m also very proud that the University and the city of Leeds as a whole will benefit from any profits generated by Convive.”

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