11 Luminar sites to close, interest in estate

At the same time, Ernst & Young (E&Y) said that it had received a large number of enquires in the business as a whole and individual sites, and was actively engaged in discussions with these parties.

Suitors for parts of the business are expected to include Hugh Osmond’s vehicle Sun Capital; Atmosphere Bars & Clubs, the Sun Capital Partners-backed nightclub operator, which was formed from the lion’s share of 3D Entertainment; Matterhorn Capital; R Capital, owner of Little Chef and a number of night clubs; and Luminar founder Steve Thomas, through his new vehicle, No Saints.

E&Y said the closure exercise, which will result in the redundancy of c.300 full and part time employees, represented “an acceleration of management’s ongoing turnaround plans for the business” and reflected a rationalisation of the loss making clubs already identified by the group as “non-core”.

The sites to close include the Tru site in Brighton, which is set to become a Hed Kandi-branded bar; the Liquid and Diva site in Sunderland; and the Liquid and Envy unit in Swindon.

It said that the restructured business leaves a core estate of profitable trading clubs that have attracted interest from a number of potential buyers, and Luminar’s remaining portfolio of night clubs will continue to trade as a going concern as the it seeks a buyer for the business.

Employees affected by these closures will be offered appropriate support and advice throughout the redundancy process.

Alan Hudson, joint administrator, said: “The core estate of clubs that were open this weekend delivered excellent trading results over what was a very busy Halloween trading period for the business.

“We would like to thank the management, employees and key suppliers who have provided their support in helping us to ensure that the business continues to trade, and provide us with the best possible opportunity to secure a sale of the business as a going concern.”