‘Legendary’ nightclub to reopen after liquidation
A ‘LEGENDARY’ Sheffield nightclub is set to reopen after its new owner acquired it out of liquidation.
The city centre nightclub, Arch 9, on Sidney Street has been acquired by club owner Steve Baxendale.
The club will reopen in January 2017 as Niche, after Mr Baxendale’s former club on the street of the same name, which was forced to close in 2005 by the police.
Mr Baxendale has insisted that the new venue will have a stringent door policy for its reopening.
Wilson Field acted as liquidators of the Arch 9 venue, which closed less than a year after undergoing an extensive refurbishment. It failed to pull in any significant numbers of attendees they said, which caused cash flow issues.
Andy Wood, associate director and insolvency practitioner at Wilson Field, said: “The sale of Arch 9 will see a part of Sheffield’s music heritage revived.
“We were called in as liquidators for the venue after it failed to become established on the local nightclub circuit. Running a nightclub is difficult without an established brand and the return of Niche will be of interest to the large client base for this type of offering.”
The venue’s owner, Steve Baxendale, said: “We are re-launching one of Sheffield’s most famous nightclubs and we will be bringing back our well known DJs to create the great sounds that made Niche so popular.”
Mr Baxendale has previously operated Rebels rock club which featured acts including Meatloaf and Def Leppard. He also owned Capital Nightclub on Matilda Street, Vibe on Charter Row and Twilight and the Rhythm Rooms in Leeds to name a few.
He now lives in Bangkok and runs a club in Thailand’s Pattaya beach resort. He also owns Sheffield’s Tank nightclub on Arundel Street.
He added: “The demand for Niche is there, we have a massive fan base and I wanted to give something back for those years of support from our core customers, but there will be some key differences to the old Niche.
“We are aiming this squarely at the music and the hardcore followers of Bassline. The club will open on alternate Saturdays for a discerning crowd and our door policy is strictly for the older Niche aficionados.
“We are deliberately not going down the route of discounted shots and cheap drinks and there will be no MC’s to distract from the quality of top DJs – it is for people who miss the essence of the original club and they won’t be disappointed.”
Arch 9 has been a club venue for many years and was the starting point for another great Sheffield namer, Gatecrasher, which moved onto Matilda Street.
