BRÂN

Co-owner of Brân, Fitz

The arcade friendship that became a board-game bar.

Brân is a Belgian beer and board-game bar located in Duke Street Arcade (opposite Cardiff Castle), created as a collaboration between local tabletop game shop Rules of Play and the team behind Nighthawks wine bar. 

Some of the most interesting business ideas begin not in a boardroom, but in a conversation between neighbours and friends. 

Brân, Cardiff's Belgian beer and board-game bar in Duke Street Arcade, is a particularly fitting example: a new venture born from the friendships that developed between independent businesses in the city's historic arcades. 

The concept brings together the teams behind wine bar Nighthawks and board-game shop Rules of Play, combining drinks, food and a library of modern board games in a space designed to bring people together. 

For Brân co-owner Fitz, the story began in 2022, when he and a group of friends (Richard, Rob Amy and Mark) opened Nighthawks in nearby Castle Arcade with a simple ambition: to create somewhere people could enjoy a good glass of wine before dinner, after dinner, or simply for its own sake. 

Its location near Cardiff Castle proved especially valuable. “One thing that I underestimated was the sheer number of tourists that we get up at this end of town,” Fitz recalls. Tour guides regularly bring visitors through the arcades, introducing independent businesses to customers who might otherwise never have discovered them. 

But while the passing trade was welcome, it was the relationships with neighbouring businesses that made the biggest impression. “Probably the nicest neighbours I've ever had working in bars have been in these arcades,” says Fitz. 

From barbers and booksellers to specialist retailers and other hospitality operators, the arcade has become a close-knit community where businesses support one another, recommend neighbouring venues and share customers. 

At Nighthawks, for example, customers regularly pick up Welsh cakes from Fabulous Welsh Cakes opposite, before settling down outside the wine bar to enjoy them alongside a glass of something special. 

It's the sort of informal collaboration that happens naturally when independent businesses work side by side. And, in Fitz's case, it ultimately led to something much bigger. 

Through the arcade community, the Nighthawks team struck up a friendship with the team behind Rules of Play, Cardiff's independent board-game specialist. What began as a relationship between neighbouring businesses eventually developed into a shared business venture. 

“I never thought that in opening Nighthawks, we'd make friends in the arcade and open a new business together,” Fitz says. “But we have done it, and it's been great.” 

The result is Brân, a bar that combines the hospitality experience of Nighthawks with the tabletop gaming expertise of Rules of Play. 

Belgian beers, food and a library of modern board games encourage customers to settle in, try something new and spend time together. There are games for experienced players and complete beginners alike, while bookable spaces in the basement cater for groups playing tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons. 

The Belgian influence is particularly personal for Fitz, who has long admired the country's relaxed café and bar culture. It's a culture in which sitting outside with a beer or a glass of wine, perhaps reading a book or catching up with friends, is an everyday pleasure rather than something reserved for a special occasion. 

Cardiff's historic arcades offer their own version of that experience. Their covered walkways and intimate spaces allow customers to sit 'outside-inside', watching the world go by while remaining sheltered from the Welsh weather. 

For Fitz, it's one of the qualities that makes them such appealing places to run a hospitality business. And while Brân represents a new chapter for Duke Street Arcade, its premises have their own story to tell. 

The unit previously housed a gelato shop and, before that, a travel agency and menswear business. Original stained-glass details remain as reminders of its past, adding character to a space that has been adapted for a completely different purpose. 

It's this combination of history and reinvention that Fitz believes makes Cardiff's arcades special. Their architecture provides a distinctive setting, but it's the independent businesses within them that give the spaces their personality. 

In Brân's case, that independence has also created something new: a business that might never have existed had its founders not found themselves working alongside one another in the arcades. 

And it's a reminder that the value of these historic spaces extends well beyond their shopfronts. They are places where relationships are formed, ideas are exchanged and businesses can grow together. As Cardiff's retail landscape continues to evolve, Fitz believes protecting that independent character is essential. 

For Brân, the next chapter of Cardiff's arcade history began with a friendship. And now, with every game played and conversation shared, its customers are becoming part of that story too.