Kinsey set to roll out Gatecrasher

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Former First Leisure chief executive Paul Kinsey will spearhead the roll-out of the famous Sheffield Gatecrasher nightclub to nine other cities...

Former First Leisure chief executive Paul Kinsey will spearhead the roll-out of the famous Sheffield Gatecrasher nightclub to nine other cities across the UK within four years. Kinsey, who left First Leisure in January, will become non-executive chairman of the company that will finance the expansion through cashflow and debt-funding. The Sheffield Gatecrasher, which opened in 1993, was re-launched six weeks ago as a mainsteam club playing a mixture of hip-hop, R&B and pop. The club, which has a capacity of 1,500, is reported to have restored its fortunes with takings as good as at the height of the dance boom in the late 1990s. Kinsey is expected to help founders Simon Raine and Simon Oates set in place "proper systems" at Gatecrasher to manage its rapid expansion. The company is looking at "all the major cities in the UK" and hopes to open Gatecrashers, which will be numbered two to 10, with capacities between 1,200 and 1,400. Kinsey is also expected to announce he will also become non-executive chairman of an unnamed bar operator company that is also planning a rapid expansion. It is rumoured that Kinsey turned down the post of operations director at Springwood in the past month. Company doctor Bill Gore, who was parachuted into Spring-wood by its banks, is thought to want to spend no more than three or four months at the company.

Related topics Health & safety

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