Bosses at venues on the Ipswich Waterfront have welcomed the news of the new BrewDog bar opening, saying “the more people down here the merrier”.

The new craft beer bar will be situated at the Stoke Bridge end of the waterfront, where the former La Tour Cycle Café was.

Ipswich Borough Council granted planning permission for the development, after granting an alcohol licence last month.

BrewDog bosses have said they will spend £750,000 on refurbishing the currently vacant unit. The bar, with a capacity of 250 people, will create 20 full-time and part-time jobs when it opens later in the year.

Greg Morgan, owner of the Waterfront Bar Bistro, said: “I think it will be a good thing for the Waterfront area. They are a responsible company with a strong brand – the more quality venues that are here, the better.”

Nathaniel Coughlan, director at Isaacs on the Quay, said: “Everyone at Isaacs is as excited as everyone else, we welcome this much foot traffic down here on the Waterfront as much as possible.

“We see them as someone that will compliment what we do and the more people down here the merrier.

“I think BrewDog have positioned themselves in the market as quite a trendy, on-brand business, so I think more younger people coming down to the waterfront is likely to happen.

“There are so many types of businesses down here, that if a new business comes down here, then we can find a way to offer those people something as well.”

BrewDog has around 70 sites in the UK, with the nearest currently being in Norwich, Cambridge and London.

Last week town retail bosses voiced their hopes that the opening of BrewDog, along with The Botanist in Cornhill and other hospitality businesses, would help Ipswich recover from the pandemic after a study showed that people were coming into town but not spending as much as they were before the first coronavirus lockdown.