The new food and drink venues that are taking shape in St Helens town centre

As the Star reported earlier this summer, the Two Brothers coffee shop will be taking over the corner "Globe" building on Barrow Street.

As these pictures show, the exterior of the former bakery has now been transformed ahead of its opening as a new independent coffee shop.

Bosses hope it will begin serving customers later this month.

The venue will offer seasonal artisan coffee celebrated for being single origin.

Two Brothers were born three years ago after two coffee loving brothers Steve and Dave Jones, who are originally from Haydock, decided that, alongside their electrical engineering jobs, they were going to launch a specialist coffee shop in Altrincham.

They went on to open a branch in Warrington Market and now they are launching their third North West venue in St Helens.

The coffee shop - which will be opposite large chain Caffe Nero, will add to the food and drink offer in St Helens.

Earlier this year, manager Sean Lyall told the Star: “We know that St Helens has plenty of the likes of Costa, Starbucks and Nero, but it’s crying out for an ethically sourced place in the town centre and we are excited to open up to the public and offer them just that.

“Barrow Street is really developing and so is St Helens town centre so Steve and Dave jumped at the opportunity to open up closer to their roots and work is currently underway to take over the Globe building.

“All our coffee is single origin and we source it from top growers across the world and roast it in our Warrington venue ourselves, so the quality is very high and the taste is what gets people returning time and again.”

The venue will also be offering cakes, bakes and sandwiches, with Sean looking for local bakery businesses interested in having their goods sold at Two Brothers to get in touch.

He said: “We do it at the other venues and it works really well, plus it’s great to work with small businesses in the areas, we provide the coffee and offer some great locally made cakes and stuff.”

Meanwhile, the Imperial Food and Drink Quarter on Brook Street (opposite St Helens College) is also progressing.

Entrepreneur Ian Pitts is transforming the site of a former public toilets.

The businessman already owns the Cork & Dough restaurant, Imperial Bar, the Secret Garden and The Church, which are on Ormskirk Street – adjacent to the new site.

The Imperial Food and Drink Quarter on Brook Street is progressing

He is pumping further investment into the town centre and work is well underway to construct the new eating and drinking hub.

Independent business leaders believe creating a strong food and drink offer will have knock on benefits for retailers by drawing footfall back into the town centre.

As the Star reported earlier this year, the documents and drawings in the planning application for the Imperial Quarter, submitted to St Helens Borough Council in January, set out ambitions to convert the former building with the addition of a first floor extension.

On the ground floor will be a series of street food units and on the first floor there is set to be seating.

An ice cream shop is also planned.

The proposals also aim to install other containers on the paved area near the Brook Street building that would house two additional extra street food units. There would also be outdoor seating.

In the region of 20 new jobs could be created.