City's first halal food court to open in January

Business owners preparing to open Birmingham's first fully halal food market say they hope it can act as a bridge between different communities in the city.

Jordan Patel, founder of Art Quarter, where the new market will be based, said despite the city's reputation for diversity, there were no central spaces led by ethnic minorities.

"There's a part of me that's feeling really grateful and blessed that we're the first, but also I think it's going to really help with generating footfall into the city," he said.

The new venue is due to open towards the end of January.

Mr Patel said he believed the venture would also have a social impact, adding he hoped to "bridge" communities together and "break down those social barriers".

"I think it's something we should all be proud of," he said.

The wider building also contains a female-only hair salon, which caters for women who wear headscarves.

"We've created this safe space where they can now remove their scarves," Mr Patel said.

"There's no windows in, there's no male staff, there's no male customers — and they're getting to have this inclusive experience."

Sakib Hussain, from dessert and brunch concept Kacao, is among the vendors at the new food court.

"Coming from a south Asian background myself, we don't push ourselves as much and go for these types of risks," he said.

"I feel like we're not given these sorts of opportunities."

Umar Fayyaz from Kohitayn, another vendor, will be specialising in Japanese and Middle Eastern-inspired food.

He said he felt the market was setting up in an already "quite busy" location, and offered more options than those already available in the nearby Bullring.

"I feel like the pull that we bring to the Muslim community and the non-Muslim community, everyone can experience what we want to offer," he said.

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