Classic Cocktails & Clothing: In Conversation With Joe Schofield

Time To Read: 6 Minutes

One autumnal afternoon, PWVC set off on the short journey from 1 Cottenham Lane to Norfolk Street in central Manchester, home to The Stock Exchange Hotel, and now to our good friend Mr Joe Schofield’s newest venture, Sterling.

After more than 18 months in the making, we are now set beneath the iconic Edwardian Grade II listed building’s grand entrance at The Stock Exchange, in what it is now an intimate, 1920’s inspired bar that used to be a Merchant Bank’s vault.

In between Joe’s busy schedule, (today’s agenda is prepping for launch, running multiple businesses, directing photoshoots and training the next of wave of world class bartenders), we sat down to discuss clothing and cocktails – a topic Joe has come to know a thing or two about in his 10 years in the trade.

Joe, it’s great to catch up with you again. Last year, we talked about SCHOFIELD’S launch, how has business been and what have you been up to since we last spoke?

Since we opened SCHOFIELD’s in the middle of the pandemic, it’s certainly been an incredible journey over the last 18 months. We’re sat here in our new project, Sterling, located on the lower ground floor underneath the Stock Exchange Hotel. It’s essentially a more luxurious version of SCHOFIELD’s. We’re still going to be championing those things we hold dear as a small family business – great service, warm hospitality and (obviously) all of the cocktails people have got to know us by in the city.

We’ve also got a wonderful vintage and rare wine and spirits list and we’ll be having live music every night provided with one of the most reputable music agencies, whose artists have entertained royalty including H.R.H, to Sir Elton John and President Clinton. Bar snacks will be provided by Lush by Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge - their team have curated the finest accompanies to all of our drinks. Sterling is often used as an adjective to describe something as the highest standard or excellent.

What’s the style and décor of Sterling like?

In terms of the style and décor, we wanted to have a very intimate space, where people walk through the doors and feel like they’ve been transported back into a bar of the past in the 1920’s, evoking sophistication and glamour. Think of lots of rich, dark racing greens and dark brown mahogany. Almost all of our furniture has been made bespoke in the North of England, we spent hours fine tuning the details to ensure maximum comfort for our guests, like the angle of the booths so you naturally lean back. People love great drinks and venues; we’re hoping they’ll be a lot of discerning drinkers here in the near future.

Does your personal style reflect the décor of Sterling?

I’ve always really liked clean, minimalist looks, I guess this is why I always wear Private White when I’m not at work and that is often reflected in our venues style as well.

Our guy has a lot of time for classic cocktails and fine cuisine, why should he visit Sterling?

At Sterling, customers can come and try something classic or experimental. Hopefully, he’ll be pleasantly surprised.

We’ve heard you’re a fan of a pint of Guiness, will it be on the menu?

I’m afraid not. But we do have 18 wonderful cocktails, 9 of which are classic, some a little less well known. Instead of a Martini you can come and try our Martinez, instead of a Negroni you can come and try our Old Pal and we’ve got 9 of our own creations where we looked at the kitchen in terms of technique and innovation to really create something new and experiential for our guests.

Why is the Stock Exchange venue so meaningful to you?

It’s quite a meaningful space for us here at The Stock Exchange Hotel, my mum used to spend some time working here back when it was the stock brokerage. Even at Sunlight House where SCHOFIELD’s is, my grandmother learnt to swim in the old pool at the basement downstairs. As we continue to evolve our operations, it’s warming to have a connection to the past, as that very much reflects our approach to our offering.

You’ve travelled the world working at some of the world’s most renowned establishments including Tippling Club in Singapore & The American Bar at The Savoy. Was there any other city on the cards to consider building your brands?

Over the last 10 years I’ve been very fortunate to travel to 60 or so countries for work doing 120 events, there are some amazing cities out there but there was nowhere else we’d rather be at the moment than right here in our home city of Manchester. It was always going to be here, it’s great to be home.

We recently shot our AW campaign At The Stock Exchange at The Bull & Bear, what’s your favourite garment from our new season offering?

I’m a really big fan of The Twin Zip Mechanic Shirt, complete with secure patch pockets and military grade Swiss copper hardware. One of the things that I love about your clothing is the number of pockets there are. The jacket I’m wearing is essentially a mobile office. My tablet, my sets of keys, my headphones for all my calls, my pens, everything fits. This is one of the reasons why I always reach to PWVC, especially when I’m running around the city. It also helps that a lot of your clothing is Ventile® as well, for when it rains.

When’s the launch date of Sterling? Will we get an invite?

We’ve had a soft launch over the past couple of weeks and are now fully operating. Please let us know when you or your customers would like to come down, we have bookings available on Opentable and we're mainly a walk in venue. The doors are always open.