New pubs, restaurants and cafés in the East Counties, often weeks before they open
For the firms that supply them. One email each Monday with the new food and drink venues across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, so you can get in touch while they are still setting up and choosing suppliers.
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VenueSpotter <hello@venuespotter.co.uk>
Your VenueSpotter list: new venues in the East Counties, week of 2 November 2026
Hello,
Attached is this week's list: 80 new food and drink venues in the East Counties, plus 11 more listed separately: 9 changes at existing venues and 2 that may not be new. We left out 21 chains, supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol stations and venues whose names aren't published.
| Venue name | Town | What it is | Record | Alcohol and hours applied for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wensum Table | Norwich | New venue | Open recordBoth | Alcohol applied forLicensed to 23:00 |
| The Backs Café | Cambridge | New venue | Open recordEarliest news | Alcohol applied forLicensed to 22:30 |
| Orwell Spice | Ipswich | New venue | Open recordAround opening | – |
| The Pier Tap | Southend-on-Sea | New operator | Open recordEarliest news | Alcohol applied forLicensed to 00:00 |
What you get each Monday
- One email, with a spreadsheet of the new venues we found in the East Counties since the last list
- Each venue's name, type, address and postcode
- Whether it applied for a licence to sell alcohol, and the hours it asked for, where we can tell
- Whether it is a new venue or a new operator taking over premises
- A link to the public record it came from
- The date we first saw it
Example rows A East Counties list
These rows are made up to show the layout: they are not real venues. Your list has the same columns, with the full address and a link to the public record.
| Venue name | What it is | Type | Address | Area | Alcohol applied for | How we found it | First seen by us |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wensum TableVS-BWE1-M6N8-T9NG | New venue | Restaurant / café | Elm Hill Row, Norwich, NR1 | Norwich | Yes | Both | |
| The Backs CaféVS-U8F0-1TDL-LQV0 | New venue | Restaurant / café | Mill Road Close, Cambridge, CB1 | Cambridge | Yes | Earliest news | |
| Orwell SpiceVS-S3N7-SYJX-KFY2 | New venue | Takeaway | Orwell Place, Ipswich, IP1 | Ipswich | Unknown | Around opening | |
| Roman Wall WinesVS-UX3Q-15XE-8NM9 | New venue | Shop | Culver Walk, Colchester, CO1 | Colchester | Yes | Earliest news | |
| Nene Side CaféVS-CB8N-RAHX-XKPW | New venue | Restaurant / café | Cowgate Row, Peterborough, PE1 | Peterborough | Unknown | Around opening | |
| The Pier TapVS-4XRL-3RBE-22XC | New operator | Pub / bar | Pier Hill Row, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 | Southend-on-Sea | Yes | Earliest news | |
| The Cathedral ArmsVS-2Q6R-SQSY-9PY6 | New operator | Pub / bar | Moulsham Walk, Chelmsford, CM1 | Chelmsford | Yes | Earliest news |
New venue: a place we have not seen trade at that address before. New operator: a new business taking over premises where another food business traded, such as a pub under new owners.
How early you hear
Earliest news: often weeks before opening
A venue that wants a licence to sell alcohol has to say so publicly before it can open, often weeks before the doors open. We have this for 39 of the East Counties's 45 areas so far:
- Babergh
- Basildon
- Bedford
- Braintree
- Breckland
- Brentwood
- Broadland
- Broxbourne
- Cambridge
- Castle Point
- Central Bedfordshire
- Chelmsford
- Colchester
- Dacorum
- East Hertfordshire
- East Suffolk
- Fenland
- Great Yarmouth
- Harlow
- Hertsmere
- Huntingdonshire
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk
- Luton
- Maldon
- North Hertfordshire
- North Norfolk
- Norwich
- Peterborough
- Rochford
- South Cambridgeshire
- South Norfolk
- Southend-on-Sea
- St Albans
- Stevenage
- Tendring
- Three Rivers
- Thurrock
- Uttlesford
- West Suffolk
Being added: Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, Watford.
New food businesses: before or around opening
Every new food business has to tell the authorities before it opens. We check every day, across all 45 East Counties areas, and pick out the ones just starting up.
Sources: many public records and published sources. We do our very best to keep people's names and home addresses out of the lists. If one slips through, email hello@venuespotter.co.uk and we'll remove it.
Try it free for 4 weeks
- Free for 4 weeks, with no card.
- Your first list usually arrives within a few minutes of confirming your email address, then a new one every Monday.
- When the 4 weeks end, the list stops. Nothing is charged unless you choose a plan.
- After the trial, if you choose a plan: £49 a month per region, or £399 a month, Whole UK. Month to month: cancel whenever you like. A region is one of 12 areas of the UK.
- Our plans are flexible. If you need something different, tell us and we'll work out a plan that suits your business.
Questions first? See questions and answers, or email hello@venuespotter.co.uk. Supplying another region? Choose it on the map.