Disco Bars, the Midlands-based late-night operator, is consolidating its estate to focus on its core brands of Manhattan and Society, MCA has learnt.
Founder Pete Terry told MCA that the group had sold its Gossip site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent to a local entrepreneur who would continue to run it as a gay bar and was also seeking to sell the nearby Beach bar, which it acquired from Fever Bars last year.
Future rollout for the eight-strong operator will now focus on the model trialled at the former Smith & Jones site in Uttoxeter, which opened last year as a dual Manhattans and Society.
Terry said he would like to secure two or three further sites in 2017 and had offers in two at the moment.
He said: “We have developed some good brands and we’ve learnt a lot about where they work best but we had developed an estate that was a bit of mish-mash. Over the past year we have re-set the dial a bit and focussed on what we want to be known for.
“I certainly think Society and Manhattan can work independently but together they complement each other very well. Manhattans is a good, solid party venue and Society is more of a stylish, cocktail bar. It allows us extend the income beyond the traditional late-night model.
“The idea is to have what you would expect to find in the northern quarter of Manchester but in a small town or city.
“We operate in a variety of different locations but we definitely think that small, market towns where we can be the best, is the route to go down.”
