Hello Solihull 👋

Well, that's that then. Spain are world champions, a Ferran Torres goal deep into extra time denying Messi his fairytale farewell and with the confetti swept up, the summer holidays have properly begun.

And what a summer it's shaping up to be. This edition is a packed one: a massive vote of confidence in Solihull from one of the UK's fastest-growing brands, empty Mell Square shops given a brilliant new lease of life, a food find with a Michelin-starred chef at the helm, and your diary sorted deep into August: Pride, park parties, giant bubbles, a moated manor and a singalong with wine.

Let's get into it.

— Max

Blythe Valley Park is quietly becoming the activewear capital of the UK.

AYBL, one of the country's fastest-growing women's activewear brands has bought the 21,252 sq ft Juniper Building at Blythe Valley Park for its new headquarters, moving over from Redditch where the brand was founded in 2018. The company reported revenue of £72.4m in its latest accounts, with profit after tax more than doubling to £9.4m.

And here's the bit that makes it feel like a pattern rather than a coincidence: Blythe Valley is already home to Gymshark's HQ and womenswear brand Lounge, alongside Siemens and Pinewood AI. Once ranked the fastest-growing private company in the Sunday Times 100, AYBL joining the park cements Solihull as the place ambitious consumer brands in the Midlands want to call home.

More brilliant jobs, more talent drawn to the borough, and another reason to be proud of what's being built on our doorstep.

👉 AYBL

Here's a brilliant bit of town centre thinking. Two empty units in Mell Square, the former Taste Collective and Space@Mell Square have been transformed into a free summer youth hub for 13 to 17-year-olds, giving young people a safe, welcoming space of their own right in the heart of town for the school holidays.

And the programme has lots to offer: gaming, DJ workshops, boxing, football, beauty and enterprise sessions, coding and game development, mentoring, wellbeing and creative activities, all completely free, running on selected dates from Monday 20 July through to the end of August.

It's a proper team effort too, delivered by Solihull Council and Mell Square alongside five local youth organisations, including the Solihull Moors Foundation and coding specialists Robocode, with specialist youth workers on hand throughout.

If you've got a teenager at home muttering "there's nothing to do" by week two of the holidays... this might just be the answer. Follow Mell Square on Facebook or Instagram for the activity dates.

👉 Mell Square Summer Youth Hub

On Sunday we asked for your Summer Fest highlights and reader Kathy summed up the weekend perfectly:

And Kathy, a little bonus for you: the RPJ Band are back in the area this weekend, playing the opening party at Festival of Sport at Packington Estate on Friday night (details below). The encore came early!

Solihull Pride returns to the town centre on Saturday 8 August, with the colourful parade setting off at 12pm and a celebration of inclusivity, diversity and community spirit running through the day.

Organised by Solihull BID, it's become one of the town centre's landmark summer events, and it's free to come along and soak up the atmosphere. Whether you're marching, cheering from the pavement or just grabbing a coffee and enjoying the colour, it's a lovely day to be in town.

👉 Solihull Pride Parade 2026

Here's one that made us smile this week. More than 100 Year 9 students from five Solihull schools took part in the borough's first ever Future Ready Day earlier this month, organised by Solihull Careers Hub at Solihull College & University Centre's Woodlands Campus.

The day was all about opening eyes to careers they may never have considered, with employer-led workshops from the likes of Aston Villa Foundation, Birmingham Hospice, VINCI Building and Balfour Beatty VINCI, plus hands-on taster sessions in hairdressing, plastering, and health and social care run by the college.

The idea is a smart one: help young people understand the full range of routes available before they head out on work experience in Year 10, with further workshops planned for those weighing up their options after GCSEs.

A brilliant way to build ambition and a lovely reminder for the next generation that there's rarely just one route into the career you want.

👉 Solihull's first Future Ready Day

Been to something brilliant locally? Hit reply and tell us — your reviews could feature in a future edition.

If you've got a special occasion coming up or you just fancy treating yourselves while the kids are at grandma's, this is the one to book.

Kynd, the restaurant at the beautiful Hampton Manor estate in Hampton-in-Arden, is headed by Michelin-starred chef David Taylor, with a menu built around top-quality seasonal produce and dishes rooted in comfort, heritage and flavour. The greenhouse-style dining space spills out into a big outdoor dining area, which makes it just about perfect on a warm summer evening.

It's fine dining, but the setting keeps it relaxed — and it's genuinely one of the most special tables in the borough, hidden ten minutes from the town centre.

👉 Kynd at Hampton Manor

At the other end of the scale from a manor house and every bit as worth knowing about, is this proper hidden gem tucked away on Oxhill Road in Shirley.

@Sage Coffee House and Kitchen is the work of Rachael and Wendy, two former education staff who swapped the classroom for the coffee machine, and you can feel the care in everything they do, ethically sourced beans, homemade cakes, hearty brunches and a lovely afternoon tea, with plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options clearly labelled.

But what makes @Sage really special is that it's become a genuine community hub as much as a café: there's a Baby Café every Tuesday morning (term time only), Knit & Natter sessions, creative classes, and even meeting rooms to rent if you need somewhere inspiring to work for a few hours. Independent, welcoming, and quietly doing brilliant things for Shirley.

Open Tuesday to Friday 8:30am–4pm and Saturday 9am–2pm, pop in and tell them Solihull Spotlight sent you.

👉 @Sage Coffee House and Kitchen

Starting tomorrow and what a way to kick off the holidays. Festival of Sport takes over the stunning 300-acre Packington Estate this weekend, giving kids aged 5–17 the chance to try more than 20 sports, rugby, hockey, cricket, netball, rowing, boxing, archery, trampolining, lacrosse and more, all coached by experts including Olympians and professional athletes.

Founded by England rugby legends Will Greenwood and Austin Healey, it's a full family weekend: adults get their own programme of morning yoga, HIIT sessions and "beat the legend" challenges, plus live music, outdoor cinema and a festival food village. Day tickets are available for Saturday and Sunday, and Friday-only tickets are just £35 with kids going free.

👉 Festival of Sport

Regular readers will know we have a soft spot for this one. Game Guru Café, Solihull's new home of board games, great coffee and community at Touchwood is running a Disney Lorcana Learn-to-Play event throughout the summer holidays, the perfect introduction to the Disney trading card game that's taken the hobby world by storm.

Think of it as Disney Pokemon. If your kids (or, let's be honest, you) have been curious about Lorcana, this is the ideal way in, friendly, beginner-focused, and no cards of your own needed. And while you're there, Game Guru's board game library and café make it one of the best rainy-day activities in the borough.

👉 Game Guru Café & Lorcana events

With the crowds heading to the big-ticket attractions, here's a quieter shout for the summer: the National Trust double-header of Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House. Baddesley is a genuinely magical moated Tudor manor — priest holes & murderous history and it's linked to Packwood by a lovely, well-marked 5-mile countryside walk (pick up the route map on arrival).

And a bonus for younger adventurers: Baddesley is hosting a Pokémon adventure trail this summer as part of the National Trust's Summer of Play partnership with Pokémon — included with standard admission (free for members), no booking needed, running until early September. Tudor history for you, Pokémon for them — everybody wins.

👉 Baddesley Clinton | Packwood House

Bouncy castle dreams, supersized. Inflatable Family Fun Days brings its giant inflatable village to the West Midlands on dates throughout the summer — slides, obstacle courses and games galore for ages 2–12, with £10 unlimited play per three-hour session and no booking needed, just turn up and bounce.

Sessions typically run 10:30am–1:30pm and 2pm–5pm. Check their website or socials for the next Solihull dates.

👉 Inflatable Family Fun Days

The Costa del Solihull keeps levelling up. Alongside the free Urban Beach in Theatre Square, Touchwood's Summer Sessions line-up includes giant bubble shows, princess pop performances, children's author visits, drama workshops and kids' DJ parties — all free, all summer long. Keep an eye on Touchwood's what's-on page for which days the bubble performers are in town.

👉 Touchwood Summer Sessions

Dust off the cowboy boots. The Shirley Social returns with a Country Special on Sunday 2 August at Shirley Park — country tribute acts, host Andy E, street food, stalls, bars and soft play for the little ones. It's the sweet spot of a proper day out: grown-up music and a cold drink for you, soft play and open space for the kids.

👉 Shirley Social — Country Special

The region's largest one-day agricultural show for over 100 years, the Canwell Show has been running since 1925, and the centenary edition promises to be the biggest yet. Livestock, rural crafts, food, family entertainment and a proper slice of countryside tradition, a short hop up the A38. A brilliant old-school day out.

👉 Canwell Show

One for the grown-ups. The Wine Events Company brings its brilliantly fun "Grease with Wine" to The Core on Sunday 9 August, 3–6pm — a big-screen singalong of the ultimate feel-good musical, paired with a curated tasting of wines served throughout the film, each one introduced and matched to the moment.

Their Greatest Showman night earlier this year was a hit, and this is summer-Sunday-afternoon plans sorted. Tell 'em about it, stud.

👉 Grease with Wine at The Core

The Midlands' biggest pop-culture weekend is back on our doorstep and for the first time ever, it's in the summer, having moved from its usual November slot. MCM Comic Con takes over the NEC from 7–9 August, packed with anime, film, TV and gaming: celebrity guests (Daredevil's Charlie Cox and Deborah Ann Woll are among the names confirmed), Artist Alley, cosplay, the Tabletop Zone and a huge gaming line-up including Baldur's Gate 3 voice talent.

Doors are Friday 12–6, Saturday 11–6 and Sunday 12–5, with earlier priority entry each day. If you spotted the incredible costumes around Birmingham International last November — this is that, with sunshine. Card game fans, consider your August bank holiday warm-up sorted.

👉 MCM Comic Con Birmingham

And one for the rock fans: Hollywood Vampires, the supergroup of Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Aerosmith's Joe Perry hit the Utilita Arena on Wednesday 19 August. A genuine "were you there?" night: three icons, one stage, classic rock covers and originals. Midweek gigs in August are the best kind of school-holiday treat for the grown-ups.

👉 Hollywood Vampires tickets

• Bin collections: https://digital.solihull.gov.uk/BinCollectionCalendar/
• Council news + updates: https://www.solihull.gov.uk/news
• Travel disruptions (West Midlands): https://disruptions.tfwm.org.uk/

Thanks for reading Solihull Spotlight 💙 let’s chat again on Sunday! Hit reply and tell me what you want more of next week: family, events, food, deals, walking routes, live music, sport, or hidden gems.

P.S. Want your business in front of local Solihull readers? Reply with SPONSOR and I’ll send over our options.

Thank you for being a part of Solihull Spotlight. If you've been enjoying Solihull Spotlight, one thing you can do to help us out, is forward this to a friend. When they subscribe using your personal link below, you’ll earn rewards from us as a thank you. Here's what's on offer: