Kids Business
February - March 2025
GAS Projects and the young people of Gloucester created and opened a pop-up business in Gloucester City Centre! We opened for two weekends only, at 11 Bell Walk, Eastgate Shopping Centre, Gloucester GL1 1XH.
We were super excited to bring Hunt & Darton’s amazing Kids Business to Gloucester for the first time, and enjoyed every second. A lot of hard work and brilliant ideas went into the shop to get it ready for opening weekend, and we loved sharing the children’s vision with Gloucester!
How it all began :
The diner was the brainchild of a number of budding young entrepreneurs from Gloucester aged 8 to 16 who worked with GAS Projects and Hunt & Darton over a number of sessions designed to help with all aspects of creating and marketing a business.
Hunt & Darton’s ‘Kids Business’ workshops in February 2025 saw the young participants attend meetings around the board table where they debated everything from uniforms, procedures, products and services to roles, decor, brand, policies and signage!
Taking the final democratically agreed vision, the team then managed a dramatic make-over of the space – painting, building, stocking until the business is ready to open to the public, staffed by the young people who imagined it.
The Launch :
“Hold onto your hats, Gloucester! GAS Projects and the kids of Podsmead have just dropped a culinary bombshell - the cheekiest, most hilarious new pop-up in town! Prepare for a whirlwind of quirky vibes, sassy service, and an unforgettable menu that's as bold as it is fun. Who knew a diner could leave you laughing and craving more? From the wittiest banter to the most unexpected dishes, we are sure to serve up a dose of surprise with every bite. Don’t miss out — it’s not just a meal, it’s an experience!”
- Hunt and Darton
What people said :
"GAS Projects are quite simply brilliant. They bring nationally significant visual artists and institutions to Gloucester, not just for the sake of it, but to work with local communities to develop their creativity. Their recent Kids Business project with Hunt & Darton was the most fun I’ve ever had in Eastgate Shopping Centre." - Phil Hindson - Chief Executive, Gloucester Culture Trust.
With thanks to :
Gas Projects would like to thank Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society, Podsmead Big Local, Arts Council England and Gloucester BID for their support with the programme and event.
Who are Hunt & Darton?
“We are two friends on a mission to play, make art and create entertaining experiences.
We aim to inspire communities whilst being inspired and collaboratively reimagining the day-to-day world we live in through kindness, frankness and laughter.
We elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary by popping up on your high street, writing a list of our most embarrassing moments, finding the time to choreograph an absurd dance to Radio Ga Ga, making a mum Haka, training up other artists to be us, talking for 24 hours on a live radio broadcast, being taught TikTok by 8 year olds from Great Yarmouth, or managing a cafe with pineapples on our heads.
We make workshops to get you on the airwaves, podcasts from our bathtubs after the kids are finally in bed, and a theatre show about boredom for an overstimulated Edinburgh audience."
Kids Business?
Handing all the decisions over to children aged 5 – 15, Kids Business is a brand-new site specific public art work in a high street shop.
Working with local budding young entrepreneurs, we run a series of workshops to grow ideas, cultivate skills, and bring to fruition the creation of a new business, democratically conjured up through the imagination of a group of kids. Be it a bank, barbers, bakery that is up to them.
Participants are invited to dress in executive attire and attend ‘Meetings’ around the board table where each session will focus on aspects of an enterprise kicking off, debating everything from uniforms, procedures, products and services to roles, decor, brand, policies and signage. Taking the final agreed vision, the team then manage a dramatic make-over of the space – painting, building, stocking until the business is ready to go.
For two consecutive weekends the pop-up shop will open order to the public staffed by local children – perhaps it’s a bakery specialising in unicorn cream horns, or a bank whose currency is emotions, or maybe it’s a barbers with only one haircut, the only way to find out is to go shopping.
Funded by :
