I had received several invites to go and check out the Impact Hub as it went through it's various…read morestages of it's Kickstarter and then the construction had started. I had really wanted to check it out, but as I have said before (in my Fazeley Social review), I don't get down to Digbeth all that often and hadn't managed to check it out. An invite from Birmingham Social Media Cafe for that months meet up landed in my email (check it out http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-social-media-cafe-birmingham) and it's location was the newly built Impact Hub! "Perfect", I thought, "A chance to meet the lovely Social media peeps of Birmingham and check out this new venue in Birmingham." The weather on that particular Friday was atrocious, but off I went to find it and have a nose. Now, it's located a little out of the way (as most venues in Digbeth are), but the Walker building is relatively easy to find with a map app and is easily distinguishable from the other places around it. I spotted the decorated Impact windows and headed around the side entrance to pop in before BSMC. You have to buzz to gain entry, but follow the courtyard around and you will see the yellow door to get in. The space is wonderful! Bright, bold and very airy; if I could stump up the subscription fee this is definitely somewhere I could work. Impact Hub is a co-working/shared office space but offers something different to it's "hubbies" with a real Community spirit behind it. Each member gets an etched mug and access to the onsite coffee shop (free for members) and it seems to be a very supportive environment to work in. I got a chance to sneak and peek the secret nap room, the lab, the office, the kitchen and the more open work areas and it's all beautiful. If you're looking for a great place to work on a casual or more regimented basis, I would definitely check the offering out here.

Impact Hub Birmingham is an amazing place to work or host an event or meeting…read more I am self employed freelancer and joined impact hub as a full time member which means I get unlimited access to facilities, wifi, unlimited teas & coffees and can use impact hub as my registered business address. It's a fantastic place to work with a warm atmosphere that would suit people who work In creative industries, social enterprise, charities, arts, tech and more. Once you've been here a few weeks you really feel part of a loving community not just a random on a desk! The events here are fantastic and lots of external companies hire spaces for their own private conferences or events as well. Have heard lots of great feedback from external bookers. They have their own coffee shop which charges only £1.50 a tea or coffee to non-members - members get free, coffee is so so tasty & reliably/ethically sourced. Members also get their own personalised mug which are ace! They have open days & offer tours so come check it out!

Boxxed is So Hot Right Now. If there is a crazy party, promo or art event happening in Digbeth, you…read morecan bet your bottom dollar it's going to be at Boxxed Warehouse. Digbeth as a whole has been going from strength to strength in the last couple of years, but with the wealth of art, streetfood and cultural events going on in the area; it has become the hottest place in Brum to get your art on and see something new. I first became aware of Boxxed on a summers day wander around the area. With it's striking painted design out the front, I had to wonder what was housed within. From then, it received some attention around City Of Colours (where street artists took over this side of the City) and has been more and more talked about following it's hosting of "House of Mask" and then "Eye Candy Festival" over the weekend. Boxxed is primarily a shared office space where entrepreneurs or small businesses can hire a space for co-working. I haven't ever visited in this capacity, but should I ever be looking for a casual base; I would definitely give it a visit. It's also an events space which can be hired and offers a licensed bar on site (bottled beer starts at around £2.50). I finally popped in as it was the site for the "Eye Candy Festival" launch last Thursday night. It's the perfect venue for this kind of large event as it offers a lot of space and the option to arrange the inside of the venue as you like. On our visit it housed art installations, a stage area (for live painting and Deejays), a bar, a smaller area for live music and several little separated areas for different artists to showcase their craft. It's a warehouse, essentially. There's not a lot more that I can say apart from it's the perfect space to hold events (especially those which are high concept) as it can be tweaked, decorated and designed to reflect the perfect aesthetic an organiser might be trying to create.

This venue is on Floodgate Street, just off Digbeth high st and approx. a ten min walk from the…read moreCity centre. Basically it's a blank canvas as lots of events go on here. I visited 'House of Mask' which was a Cubanisto promo event which was great fun.Then this week I went to 'Eye Candy' which was a creative event for artists to show off their artworks and sell some of their goods. There is a bar which has a range of beverages that change depending on the event. The toilets vary in cleanliness depending on the clientele (!), but everyone seems really friendly in there and I like the fact its actually quite warm despite the fact it's basically a warehouse!;)

So on a warm Sunday evening we attended the fantastic spa cinema which was held on the rooftop of…read morethe Fort Dunlop building. There was a small bar serving and array of drinks and summer cocktails. Tokens were purchased for easy transactions. 1 token is £5. A suffer board competition was won by a dude who managed to withstand the jolts for a cool 100 seconds.. There was a DJ keeping everyone entertained and there were lots of inflatable items that added to the atmosphere. As the evening drew in and the alcohol warmed us up we slipped into our smalls and took the plunge into a warm soothing hot tub. Accompanied with drinks this was perfect in its own right but we were also treated to classic horror movie Jaws! Which was great to watch on a big screen as we sipped on cocktails in our private hot tubs. We absolutely loved loved loved this event and recommend anyone and everyone to try it. It was chilly at times and we had to nip to the 4th floor to use the toilet but it was worth it to slip back into the hot tub after being in the cold. We also enjoyed pizza delivery service straight to out hot tub which was a great idea. What more could you want on a Sunday evening. Fantastic event hats off to everyone. Thanks to Vicki Q for selecting me as the winner for these free competition tickets too! :)

Not to be confused with neighbouring Fort Retail Park, you'd imagine this distinctive-looking…read morecomplex to offer square foot after square foot of funky office space. You know, a professional setting complete with the tricycle-filled fun associated with Pixar or Google Towers; meetings are at 1pm, air hockey is at 2. Whether that's how things have turned out for on-site businesses is for their employees to tell you, but you can bet they'd be glad of something to do - the commercial and retail units below them don't offer an awful lot in way of choice and window-shopping. For the shopper, then, there's not massive visiting appeal. Mid-to-high-end furniture store Dwell; two specialist cycling stores; an Indian-Italian fusion restaurant; a convenience store; a florist and a recommended cafe are about your lot. If you want to say it with flowers to a mountain biker who wants naan with their pasta, you can't go wrong. And yet, it all still has a certain ghost town appeal, even if it's only feeling like you're in a 70s sci-fi thriller. But it's probably less Logan's Run and more Sleeper... you may just, zzzz, drop off for a snooze. For anyone with heavy eyelids, there is an on-site hotel, although it's hard to imagine how this strangely located pit stop would hold greater appeal than other edge-of-city rooms with equally easy access to motorways and Birmingham Airport.

Baskerville House is a rather superb looking white building in Centenary Square (I will put up a…read morephoto next time I go past...). I am clearly biased towards all things Baskerville, as this is probably my favourite building of Centenary Square, as the monument to John Baskerville is my favourite statue/sculpture in Centenary Square. I love Baskerville House because its rather grand, but in an elegant, rather than a flouncy way. It's a sort of art deco/ classical combo - so there's a few columns knocking around, but primarily it's that graphically decorative style of art deco: an emphasis on lines and curves rather than fussy ornamental depictions. It's a Grade II Listed building, and used to be a civic building before it became commercial offices, so it's decorated with the coat of arms of Birmingham.

Either we missed vital sections or the area has changed in the past years. While the streets…read moreleading up to the Custard Factory certainly were lined with graffiti, nothing grand captured my attention compared to the art I saw in old photos. The block primarily houses businesses with a couple of restaurants and shops. Inside has the componentized large-scale art while the space surrounding the parking lot has many arbitrarily drawings. A place to check out if in the area, but otherwise not worth making the trip out of the city.

The Custard Factory is so named as it used to be wait for it.. a custard factory! Home of the…read morefamous Birds' Custard. It holds some great memories for me and many of my fellow Brummies. It's now a large complex made up of hundreds of offices and studios, shops, bars, cafes and a theatre. Work I currently work here and most businesses who are based here are of the creative variety and there's a real inspirational and motivational feeling when you walk around and see so many other creatives here. The offices are spacious and light, I've never been one for working in offices but I make an exception for Custard Factory. Shop Some of the more notable places here you should check out include Urban Village (vintage clothing), Ideal Skate Shop & ramp and Yumm (cafe). But there are lots more, you really need to go down and have a good mooch. Being a bit off the beaten track (a whopping ten minute walk from town - are we really that lazy?!), it's often not as busy as it should be considering there are literally NO other cool independent shopping areas in or around Birmingham City Centre. I'd strongly advise coming down to see for yourself if you haven't already. Play Over the years I've seen countless number of amazing bands and DJs perform in various sections of this large complex, acts such as Lee Scratch Perry, LCD Soundsystem, Klaxons, Roots Manuva, 2manydjs, Erol Alkan and many more. At one time it was the best venue in town with an international reputation for being an awesome club and gig venue. The main venue 'The Medicine Bar' has since closed it's main room and the side bar is now home to 'Bar 78', which is a nice place for a lunchtime drinks and snack but a far cry from the hedonistic days of my youth. Now you can occasionally go to a club night at Gibb Street Warehouse (formerly Space 2) but the old glory days are greatly missed! Digbeth should be like the Camden or Shoreditch of Birmingham, we've got a good foundation here - help it grow by becoming a regular shopper or by basing your business or studio here. If you like something a bit different you should check out Supersonic Festival as it is held here every year.