Custard Factory

This is probably one of my top places to take my friends who haven’t been to the city before. Amazing area filled with various quirky shops (Flamingo vintage, Mockingbird Theatre, Graffiti art shops etc), beautiful graffiti from the City Of Colours Festival that runs every year (graffiti festival in which artist live paint the area with art). Also home to Digbeth Dining Club an event that happens now and again in which they close off the street and fill it with local street food! (Bourneville Waffle Company, Baked In Brick, Canadian Poutine etc)!

The custard factory is quite simply one of the best creative spaces in the city. Developed from an old factory/​industrial space the whole complex is now packed full of vintage shops, restaurants, cafes and bars.
To really make the most of your time here make sure you check the custard factory website for a more detailed view of what’s on from week to week. You will find some seriously special one off events, markets, fairs and exhibitions happening regularly in many of the individual spaces here.
The whole of the custard factory is decorated beautifully. Forward thinking graffiti and art instialations make this already interesting space even more unique. Right in the middle of the development there is a large pool, over the top of this read the words ‘the city is a work of art’. The custard factory reminds you that this really is the case!

Awesome.

You cant beat a mooch around the Custard Factory, so called because this is where Mr Birds Custard used to be made (I learnt this during my most recent visit) plenty of wonderful little independent shops and boutiques. Places to eat and drink. Being a nice short walk fro the city centre it’s a little off the beaten track but well worth it. Creativity quite literally scales the walls around here. I enjoy the vintage fair especially.

I love the Custard Factory, for several years now the beating heart of Digbeth, Birmingham’s vibrant creative quarter.
Home to a clutch of independent retailers, businesses and creative enterprises, and just a short walk from the city centre, the Custard Factory has so much to offer visitors, day or night, from quirky eateries, to bars, shops, galleries and much more.
It’s worth visiting just for a snoop around the complex itself. Housed within the old Bird’s Custard factory and adjoining buildings, the Custard Factory is a warren of surprising spaces. Inside and out, make sure you look up as there’s plenty of art to discover, including the monumental green man sculpture, world-​class street art and other sculptures.
On weekends the Custard Factory has a real buzz to it, with various events running throughout the year. These include festivals and fetes, vintage and antiques bazaars, record markets, art exhibitions, live music and performances and more. There is a really fun community feel to the place. The lake area at the heart of the complex is a relaxing oasis in which to lounge on a sunny day, with outdoor seating outside the lovely Alfie Bird’s (see in my other reviews).
The Custard Factory is a great start-​point for a cultural tour around Digbeth, with many of the area’s great galleries and exhibition spaces located nearby. I could go on and on here, but I’ll finish by saying that it is a MUST for any visitor to Birmingham!

Lots going on here!
I came down for the foo fair but as the forecast had been so bad there was very little food at all, so went away hungry. Nevertheless the visit was still worth while. I bought a few items of jewellery for friend birthdays’ from the lovely jeweller the called Sarah Preisler.
There is also a lovey home furnishing shop and the picture framers at the back of the site I have used several times and found to be efficient and relatively cheap. The entrance to The Custard factory also has a shop called Urban Village, which is a retro/​vintage clothes shop– great fun to look round even if you don’t want anything! The sites also puts on monthly vintage clothes or antiques fairs, so it’s worth checking out their website for details.
Shops seems to come and go down here quite quickly, but its always worth popping down to have a look:)

The Custard Factory is a staple of Birmingham’s cool, independent underbelly. Named as such for it’s location being Mr Bird’s Custard Factory until the 60’s; it really does hammer home all that is unique about our wonderful City.
It’s a little bit of a walk from the Bullring side of the Centre (although that will change with the construction of the tram), it’s worth a trip to go and have a gander. It’s changed faces many times over the last few years and had unit’s open and close, but the ethos of Independent Birmingham is still very much alive and kicking.
I hadn’t been down for quite some time (my bad, I know), but ended up working with Dome Club in the Old Library Friday and Saturday night. The first thing that struck me was HOW MUCH it’s changed over that time. With great record stores, cafes, hairdressers and all sorts of vintage and clothing stores; it’s a great place to spend a pretty penny.
They have a fab line up of events too. From festivals to live gigs to film showings; it’s well worth keeping an eye on the website for information on what’s coming up. I’ve seen deejay sets from Soft Cell, live gigs from Mr Scruff (being held IN the emptied out pool) and been to various vintage markets and great horror film events.
Even if there isn’t a specific event you want to attend, it’s worth having a wander to marvel at «The Green Man» living statue and «Beorma the dragon» (a huge metal dragon scaling the internal walls of the atrium. You could definately lose a couple of hours in the complex before treating yourself to a pint in Birmingham’s Oldest Pub; The Crown.
Now; the downside. If you’re not a fan of «the Hipster» then just don’t go. I’ve always met lovely people here — but it’s a very «scene» sort of place. The bar is also pretty extortionately priced for standard drinks too.
I would definitely earmark The Custard Factory for a visit if you haven’t done so. It’s a treasure trove of great stores, cute cafes and wonderful design.

custard factory always puts on cool nights, themed nights — the zombie disco rave was here last year — and electric carnival, it’s the hip cool place to be, yes the area is a little shady but that kinda adds to how cool it is. love the graffiti too

This is the best I’ve seen the Custard Factory. For the first time since I’ve been in Brum, there is enough to keep you occupied for at least half a day — or all day when there is an antiques/​vintage/​flea market on such as last Saturday!
They regularly have live music and BBQs here too so it’s worth keeping an eye out.
It needs a cashpoint and of course it really needs more residents to create a regular buz but finally, with three coffee shops/​cafes and plenty of shops, this place is happening. Long may it continue to grow!

The Custard Factory used to be home to Mr. Birds custard factory until the early swinging sixties. The factory then went under redevelopment in 1992 bringing the place back to life.
There are creative and media type offices housed here now, with a number of vintage shops and cafes.
The recent addition to the ‘custard factory community’ the Greenhouse Café fits in perfectly offering BBQs when the weather is fine, and tasty brunch and lunch options with outdoor and indoor seating.
If you are seeking a vintage outfit then this is the place to come! Shops such as Urban Village and Mr. Birds Emporium is a vintage lovers paradise.
Check out the Custard Factory website to find out what’s on. I recently attended a vintage fair at the Old Library, which was a perfect space and the events seem to ramp up during Summertime.
The factory is a stones throw away from the Bullring shopping centre, and you can be enjoying a different shopping experience in 10 minutes — no excuse not to swing by!

It would seem that this is one of Birmingham’s little secrets, and what a find it is. Well worth the walk from the Bull Ring to investigate the hidden gems found inside. If you have never been here its not something that looks like it could be as impressive as it is when you go inside. Just take a walk down the little entrance way and it opens up to so many little venues, shops and some great music. Well worth a visit, should be advertised more and have great signs saying, fun here!

The Custard Factory is so named as it used to be wait for it. a custard factory! Home of the famous 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 (café). 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.

The Custard factory is an amazing place to go for all different kinds of activities such as shopping for a new skateboard, perhaps some new trendy clothes or dancing. They provide many things that you can explore as well as holding great parties and supplying halls for private hire. I personally go here to complete my hip hop, street and contemporary dance hobby. The dance studios are high in natural light and the walls are covered in tall mirrors which is great for any dance studio in order for dancers, be them beginners or advanced to improve movements. I would definitely check out the Custard Factory because I think there’s a little bit of everything for everyone and you could really bag a bargain or a new skill perhaps in dancing or in the other activities and facilities that they provide.

Not a massive amount to add here except to say that they hold a flea market once a month which tends to be cheaper than some of the nearby vintage/​second-​hand shops so worth a visit. Oh and the ‘green man’ sculpture is pretty cool too.

As a regular visitor to the Custard Factory whether it’s for meetings, training events or generally to peruse the shops I always feel sad that it isn’t living up to its potential.
As a creative business space its seems like an easy option to chose to set up in when in reality there are cheaper, more exciting spaces in Birmingham to rent for a whole let less. With a school heating system in operation where there are set months of the year when its on to blast you and off to freeze you it feels very much like your space isn’t in your control. The public toilets here are old and kinda dirty, actually that goes for the whole building which feels like a faceless sea of hostel rooms. Do you want your clients to have that as their first impression?
Whilst there are very talented people working, making and selling amazing things here, which I love, as a space and building I say don’t believe the hype. The Custard Factory has a slight feel of last seasons trend to it. If you want to be ahead of the pack look elsewhere.

I usually go to Custard Factory for some specific reasons:
1– when I spot some new graffiti around Digbeth,
2– to check the independent shops regularly ‚
3– when there is some interesting festival held on it
I heard so much about the history of this place and its influence in the cultural life of the area and I really think it is a melting pot of Birmingham.
I just wish it would be more lively in the evenings. All shops around are known for being unique businesses but they are all usually closed when everybody is trekking to Digbeth for a night out.
I am quite sure it’s not a cheap space for starting a business but a bit of kick in the locale would not just bring more clientele– still selective clientele, I mean– but also results for the proper businesses already placed there.

The Custard Factory SHOULD be awesome. And over the years, there’s been parts of it that have been awesome, and there are some parts of it currently that ARE awesome, but they seem to be dwindling over time. And that makes me sad.
It’s touted as being «Birmingham’s revolutionary new arts and media quarter» despite having been functioning as such since 1990. And I’m pretty sure the very basics — such as public toilets — haven’t been updated since then. (They’re really very horrid.) It offers studio and office space to creative businesses and artists, and recently expanded further by the development of the Zellig section. Whilst Zellig is all shiny and new, the rest of the complex feels like it’s been left to decay somewhat — and whilst I’m sure there are people who enjoy the aesthetic, it frustrates me that anything considered to be ‘for artists’ also has to be run down.
I’ve worked for one company there, and our office space was tiny but adequate with a balcony overlooking one of the pools. Whilst I worked there, there were permanent rumblings amongst the tenants of crime and break-​ins, and generally the security within the building seemed rather poor. Another worrying point for anyone considering it for potential business space. Despite this, I even browsed possible office spaces there when setting up my own company — the lure of being surrounded by artists is a strong one! But the prices charged, and spaces offered all fell short of what I was after, especially given there are ample council owned properties in the Jewellery Quarter which offer a lot more space for a lot less money.
I know people who are current tenants of the space, and they all seem happy with what they have, so perhaps it simply wasn’t for me.

Although the Custard Factory is in fact a collection of smaller independent shops, cafes and musical venues, I can happily review it as a single entity due to the overwhelming sense of community that simply radiates from every part of the place. The Custard Factory simply exhudes cool, having played host to some of the more eclectic live events Birmingham has seen in the past few decades. With both indoor and outdoor stages, the total capacity of the venue when hosting large events is quite mind-​blowing.
You’ll hear everything from punk rock to dubstep and all points in between, yearly highlights coming in the form of Supersonic Fest (courtesy of local promoting legends Capsule), the Drop Beats Not Bombs dance extravaganza, and much more besides.
There are shops selling everything from musical instruments to art supplies, and there are a number of gallery spaces that play home to local talent. Dance classes can often be seen practising their moves even as club goers mill around outside. It’s a monument to artistic diversity and expression, and you can’t help but get caught up in the vibe every single time you visit.

I go to the Custard Factory every year for the brilliant Supersonic Festival, and it really is a great little venue. It doesn’t look like much from the outside — just another glass fronted area of the usual vintage boutiques and bars — but inside it really is a proper little tardis. Encompassing a variety of bars and quirky little shops situated around a paved over courtyard, it’s just the place for interesting music events, DJ nights and disco-​tastic dance offs.
One of the things I like best about the venue is the real sense of community you get from the place. Like many other places in Birmingham, The Custard Factory appears to be a real hotspot for independent arts organisations, film makers, musicians and designers, which provides it with a brilliantly creative and inspiring atmosphere.
All in all, this is a great little place, and a venue that Birmingham has much reason to be proud of.

The custard factory and its immediate surrounding area is full of interesting, specialist, arty, shops and stalls.
It’s worth walking down from the city centre on a sunday afternoon to catch the flea market which is helping to keep people interested in this part of the city.
It’s definitely far from looking like Camden yet, with stalls packed but the actual amount of stalls sparse, and the prices are far from barganous but there’s plenty to keep to your sights and sounds assaulted.
There is a new initiative to supply stalls for ingenious and business minded arts students. Plenty of hope that it will continue to develop.