Glasgow councillors approve plans to open All Bar One in Central Station

A new All Bar One can open in Glasgow Central station after plans were given the green light.

Major hospitality firm Mitchells & Butlers has been granted permission by Glasgow City Council planners to refurbish a unit above M&S Simply Food.

The company – which is opening the city’s second All Bar One – had already secured a licence to sell alcohol at the venue from the city’s licensing board.

Wetherspoons had previously intended to open in the unit but later dropped the plan.

Plans stated there will be a “similar fit out” to the Wetherspoons project, when the council had decided the works would “not detract from the historic character of the building and will not be detrimental to its appearance”.

Mitchells & Butlers is leasing the unit from Network Rail and plans to carry out “minor, non-structural alterations” inside and install new lighting at the main entrance.

When the alcohol licence was secured, licensing lawyer Audrey Junner, representing the applicants, said the company planned to open the venue in August.

She said the unit, previously Central Bar, has been closed since 2016 and her clients want to bring “new life” into the space.

Ms Junner added: “The station is undergoing refurbishment at the moment, there are a lot of closed units. That will change as the development happens at the station, and this will be a valuable addition to that.”

Mitchells & Butlers are “trying to enhance the user experience within the station”, she said. Councillors on the city’s licensing board approved a provisional premises licence.

Ms Junner also said All Bar One is “one of the most popular of Mitchell & Butlers brands”. Glasgow’s current All Bar One is on the corner of St Vincent Street and West Nile Street in Glasgow.