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MICRO BARS ARE A 21ST-CENTURY PHENOMENON, AT TIMES REPLACING THE TRADITIONAL PUB, AND ONE SUCH ESTABLISHMENT IS DOING WELL IN A RATHER PECULIAR LOCATION 05:30, 31 May 2025 As locations go,

this could be one of the most random places for a micro bar. Set in a little precinct of shops on a housing estate, just off the New Birmingham Road, it doesn't seem like your average

destination for a pint. With a gleaming bar and interior bearing neon lights, and a pristine beer garden with flower pots and astro-turf, the smart-looking bar would be more befitting of a

nearby town centre. READ MORE: LIFE INSIDE 'HOT FUZZ' VILLAGE THAT'S 'LOVELY' BY DAY BUT 'CHANGES IN THE DARK' GET BREAKING NEWS ON BIRMINGHAMLIVE

WHATSAPP, CLICK THE LINK TO JOIN But Tivi-ale's setting in Tividale, the suburb where it gets its name from, is probably what has made it so successful. Article continues below Run by

father and daughter Delwyn Sharpe, 65, and Leanne Wherle, 39, along with other family members, the micro-bar on Regent Road has been going for the past seven years. Set up in 2018,

you'll find its beer garden jam-packed on a sunny weekend. What started as an objectionable planning application amongst locals has now become a fan favourite in the community. Even on

a weekday, just after doors open at 12pm, the first customers cheerfully stroll in and order drinks. While such establishments can be associated with rowdiness and drunken behaviour, the

owners ensure customers are well-behaved and are respectful of neighbours. "In the summer, this (the beer garden) is just full of people," said Delwyn. "But nice people.

Nobody can have their shirt off. We don't have any of that. "Everything is quiet, respectful. We monitor it all the time, obviously because we have to. We close the garden at 9pm,

that was part of the license. "I think it was 10pm, but we call it 9pm because they (the neighbouring houses) have had enough and we have had enough." Leanne added: "We are

still open in the bar until 11.30pm. But it is nice to shut it and then get everyone in and then you can relax, with everyone inside and having a nice time." Pointing to the plant pots

on the tables, Delwyn said: "Look at all the plants, touch wood, no one has ever robbed one because we have got CCTV everywhere and not only that, people have got a bit of respect.

"You'd like a right boner if you knicked a plant pot and I find out who it is because (everything) it is on Facebook now isn't it. "They'd look like an idiot for a

£5 pot, I'll give you one if you want one that desperately, this is what we'd say." He continued: "Bad language, we watch that and monitor it. We say 'listen, calm

your language, we can't have it in here' because it is tight, it is close. "There are kids and women in there (the micro bar), there's families, they don't want to

hear it. People treat us like family." Set inside an old Select & Save, the micro bar is situated on a hillside amongst several other shops including a chippie amid a large suburb.

A maze of houses branch off in every direction, while the bustling New Birmingham Road rumbles away at the bottom of the hill. It cost the family around £60,000 to fully kit out the micro

bar, which employs seven people, taking a year to set-up in total. Inside, they have an impressive wall of pub snacks, rows of tables and chairs and wallpaper depicting the inside of a

brewery. On tap, they have the likes of Estrella, Guinness and the bar's most popular drink Holden's Golden Glow - which is brewed just two miles down the road in Woodsetton.

Delwyn said they opened the bar targeting his "age group", although they don't discriminate against age so long as customers are respectful. Leanne said: "We do ales, we

don't do shots, we don't do like Bacardi Breezer or anything like that. We wanted it to be more for grown-ups." Delwyn added: "Don't get me wrong, we get

18-year-olds in, they behave and they know what they are doing. "They don't play up and they're as good as gold. They know if you're barred, you're barred for

life." While business is now booming, it wasn't all plain sailing at first, with Leanne describing it a "nightmare" to get a license off Sandwell Council. There was a

number of hurdles they had to navigate including being told 17 parking spaces would be needed, although they eventually settled on six, she said. The family, who came from the flower

wholesale business, with no experience in the bar trade beforehand, even had to hire a top solicitor in the field, charging £350-an-hour to represent them which costed £15,000 overall.

"We had quite a few objections originally from neighbours, they didn't know us," said Leanne. "The council gave us a temporary license originally for two years, so if

there was any problems then, they wouldn't renew it. "But after that, we got the full license anyway." She added: "The first time we pulled a pint was June 8, 2018, we

had a mini get together, we invited a few people practising pouring pints. We'd never done it before." Delwyn said the neighbours who objected at first are now their customers,

adding: "They tend to come in. It's a community hub, very much so." Leanne said: "Everyone knows each other. It's not cliquey as such. Friendships have been made

here. A couple even got married after they met in here." Delwyn added: "Customers come in and kiss us, especially the blokes. It takes ages for us to finish a shift because we go

round and say bye to everyone." When Tivi-ale first opened, Delwyn said the queues were "chaos" and stretched down onto the pavement. However they had to shut their downs

unexpectedly two years later when the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, something which brought their customers to tears. "The first two years, we were grafting, it was going really

well," said Delwyn. "There were people crying on the that day (when the first lockdown was announced), they said you have got to shut at 6pm but we were still here at 11pm.

"We put the last song on really loud and people were crying. Awful." Through lockdown - a turbulent time for the pub, restaurant and bar trade - Tivi-ale sent out takeaway boxes

and punters even offered to lend them money to stay afloat, such was their affection for the micro bar. Thankfully, trade has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Leanne said: "Not last

Wednesday, but the Wednesday before, was the best Wednesday that we have ever had. "That was like a Friday. We took Friday takings on a Wednesday. It was absolutely crazy." Delwyn

added: "When the kids broke up before Easter, that Friday was the best Friday we have ever had because it was a day like this, the first day of sunshine." Tivi-ale is open from

12pm until 11pm Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, while it is open from 12pm to 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Article continues below The micro bar also opens on Christmas Day.

Leanne's husband Mitch, 43, also run Pens Ale, which is located around four miles away in Pensnett, which opened three years ago.