The history of the Pitman Vegetarian Hotel in Birmingham

In 1896, the Murdoch Chambers & Pitman Building was built by J. Crouch and E. Butler for Dean's Furniture and the Pitman Vegetarian Restaurant. In 1898, the restaurant expanded into the Pitman Vegetarian Hotel, which operated from the County Buildings at 159 Corporation Street in Birmingham. The hotel was managed by James Henry Cook and was named after Sir Isaac Pitman, who was then the vice-president of the Vegetarian Society. The hotel remained in operation until the 1930s.

The same proprietor ran the Pitman Health Food Co. (also called Pitman Reform Food Stores) at Aston Brook Street. By 1909, the company advertised as "The Largest Health Food Dealers in the World," selling meat-free products like Pitman Savoury Nut Meat and Nuto Cream both directly and by mail order. Mahatma Gandhi is known to have received jars of Nuto Cream and Nuto Cream Soup from the company.

After the Second World War, the Pitman Building's rooms housed various voluntary organisations under the Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, including the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Visiting Service for Old People. In 2023, a joint venture between Regal Property Group and Trigram Properties purchased the building from the city council. Plans are underway to build a 156-bedroom hotel on the site, which the property owners estimate will open in 2025.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons