The long-term vacancy of two prime retail units in Harrogate’s Royal Baths has cost the taxpayer almost £1 million in lost rent and service charges, the Stray Ferret can reveal.

North Yorkshire County Council paid £9.5 million for the Grade II listed building in 2018. A current council report has valued it at £7 million and forecasts it to generate an investment return of just 1.64%.

But in addition to the £2.5 million decline in property value, the long-term vacancy of both buildings is haemorrhaging lost rental income each month.

A year ago today (December 9, 2022) the council evicted the owners of the Viper Rooms nightclub — one of four commercial units it lets in the Royal Baths.

The venue has stood empty since, despite repeated claims by the council of “significant interest”.

The former Potting Shed bar, which along with the JD Wetherspoon pub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant make up the other commercial units, has been empty since the council acquired the historic complex five years ago.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded North Yorkshire County Council in April this year, about the cost of the ongoing vacancies.

A council statement said rent for the Viper Rooms premises “would have been in the region of £90,000 since December last year”.

It added maintenance for the building is covered by a service charge which is approximately £75,000.

The council added no business rates are payable due to an exemption for the premises as a listed asset.

As for the Potting Shed space, the council said the original rent was £125,000 a year when the county council acquired the vacant unit in 2018. That figure represents a loss of £625,000 over five years.

The vacant former Potting Shed unit.

It did not give a figure for the loss of service charge income at the Potting Shed but said no business rates were payable on either premises due to an exemption for them being a listed asset.

The council said “no agent’s fees have been paid at this time” to Savils, which has been marketing the Viper Rooms, adding any fee “will be made when the unit has been let”.

Asked why it was taking so long to find a Viper Rooms tenant, despite the apparent interest, the council said:

“The leisure market continues to be highly variable. Savills has conducted a significant number of viewings, and we do now have offers for both vacant units.

“An offer for the Viper Rooms unit has been accepted while the offer for the Potting Shed is due to be considered shortly.

“The situation of having vacant units is by no means unique and is a widespread issue nationally following the impact of the covid pandemic and the cost of living situation.

“Harrogate’s Royal Baths do, however, cover their costs and the council has not had to use funds from alternative budgets to support the asset.”

Council urged to “get their act together”

Former Conservative councillor Richard Musgrave branded the Royal Baths an “under-performing trophy asset” in 2021 because of the sum paid and returns generated.

The continued loss of rental income since, the depreciation of the value of the asset and its low investment returns has again raised questions about the council’s business acumen.

The Royal Baths forecasted return of 1.64% is by far the lowest in the council’s portfolio.

Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independent group on Conservative-controlled North Yorkshire Council, said the situation was “extremely concerning”. He said:

“The council really ought to get their act together and get it sorted immediately.

“A 1.64% return on investment is very low. They could have put the money in the bank and got just under 5%.”

Cllr Parsons said the newly formed council was still going through its investment portfolio to decide which assets to keep.

The Royal Baths complex

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election, said:

“North Yorkshire Council’s approach to business and investment in Harrogate is disappointing, and we deserve better.

“The continued cuts to local government from the Conservative government have left local authorities scrambling to buy up investment properties as new revenue streams. Often they do not have the skills of expertise to make a success of such investments, and we can see how that plays out first hand with the Royal Baths as one example.

“Their approach has been shortsighted, resulted in the loss of local businesses, and decreased the value of the assets they purchased. Someone should be accountable for this decision.”

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Royal Baths: the council’s under-performing ‘trophy investment’
• Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
• Viper Rooms owner says Harrogate landlords need to ‘get real’ with rent

Asked to respond to claims that it lacks the commercial acumen to run businesses, the council said:

“North Yorkshire Council has a wide range of skills among its own staff, but also recognises that external support is necessary for assets that are more complex. A number of external professionals assist the council in managing this asset is the best interests of local residents and taxpayers.”

Paul Kinsey, who owned the Viper Rooms, has been locked in protracted negotiations with the council over the fixtures and fittings, declined to comment.

It’s the Christmas party season, and many of us will remember when a festive do in Harrogate ended, often rather messily, in one of Harrogate’s nightclubs.

The town’s club scene was once so good that names such as Carringtons, Jimmys and Josephine’s live on in fond memories of sticky dancefloors, cheap drinks and great music.

Recollections may be hazy but the love remains for the likes of Legends, Flares, Ministry of Sound, Rehab, The Old Bourbon and the many other nightclubs that have come and gone in Harrogate over the years.

But no more. Next weekend will mark a year since the last club standing, The Viper Rooms, closed its doors. So is this the end of the nightclub in Harrogate and, with it, the end of a guaranteed great night out in the town?

The death of the nightclub

Harrogate is not alone in its declining nightclub scene. Data from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) shows 31 per cent of the UK’s nightclubs closed between June 2020 and June 2023. The report blamed an increase in operational costs, rents, utilities and maintenance, and called for initiatives to help nightclub owners finance their venues.

But even before a pandemic and a cost of living crisis, NTIA research shows that nightclubs were already in decline. Between 2014 and 2019 the number of clubs across the UK fell from 1,924 to 1,446, with Yorkshire seeing a 37 per cent loss.

Jay Smith, the owner of Montey’s bar, says this corresponds to an increase in later bar licences:

“In the halcyon days of nightclubs, bars were open until 11 and then the clubs took over. But as licensing reforms started to take hold and then customer demand followed, we ended up opening later. Now Montey’s is open until 4am on a weekend and we’re not alone. It’s being driven by the consumer and that’s all you can react to.”

Montey’s has just marked its 27th year in Harrogate and Mr Smith says drinking habits have changed during that time.

“People aren’t going out as much as they used to. There’s a whole generation of kids who turned 18 during the pandemic and have never been clubbing. And a large number of our customers don’t drink alcohol. When Montey’s started we had one alcohol-free beer and now we have a whole section on the menu. It’s not a money saving exercise for people either; they are just more health conscious.”

(L) The serviced apartments on the Kings Road site that was previously the original King’s Club, then the Old Bourbon. (R) Best Bar on Parliament Street

Read More:

• Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
• Harrogate nightclub owner: ‘Government wants to kill us off’
• Friday night live music returns to Montey’s in Harrogate

Has demand gone? 

With opportunities for clubbing in Leeds and York and the ease and affordability of sharing an Uber back to Harrogate, is there even any demand for a nightclub in Harrogate?

Jay Smith says:

“To be honest, a town the size of Harrogate probably had a disproportionate number of nightclubs a decade or two ago. If we do get another one I suspect it will be a lot smaller. Nightclubs are really expensive businesses to operate.”

So is Harrogate still a great night out?

You’d think not, judging by the negative response on The Stray Ferret’s Facebook page to a story last week about Harrogate’s best venues. “Go to Leeds or York” was the general response to an appeal from a Bath-based events company for someone ‘with a love of partying’ to report on the town’s bars and clubs for a ‘full night out experience’. “Nightlife is dead in Harrogate” was a common refrain.

But Yannis Dervishi, owner of Best Bar on Parliament Street, doesn’t agree. He thinks perceptions changed when The Viper Rooms closed, and that people who think the closure left Harrogate devoid of nightlife, need to get back out on the town and see what’s on offer.

“Viper Rooms closing down took away decades and decades of that location’s history, which promoted the perception that nightlife in Harrogate is lacking, he says.

“However, this is just perception over perspective. Harrogate contains a variety of bars scattered through the town centre and each one is different and unique in their own way. The face of the town’s night-time scene may have changed but it’s not like there’s no music and no dancefloors.”

The rise of the all night bar

The success of bars in the face of nightclubs’ decline was underlined this week when the UK’s biggest nightclub operator, Rekom, announced it’s going to start focusing more on its bars. And last week The Viper Rooms owner Paul Kinsey’s Harewood Group said it had taken over the Pitcher and Piano bar in Harrogate and is aiming to create a ‘great night out’, introducing live music and DJ Christmas party nights.

Mr Dervishi, who has been in the industry for over 20 years and also runs Mykonos and Santorini restaurants, says the demographic has widened at Best Bar since The Viper Rooms closed. The bar, which is open until 6am at weekends and includes a ‘nightclub’ style room with a dancefloor and DJs, attracts between 300 and 500 people on Fridays and 450 to 750 on Saturday.

“We’ve got customers of all ages, from 20 year olds to the over 70s. We didn’t plan for that kind of mix when we first launched, but when Viper Rooms closed we adapted our offering and it just fell into place.”

Mr Smith also thinks it’s unfair to say the town has no nightlife: “We’ve got some really great places to go on a night. Independent bars are on the rise nationally, and in Harrogate we’ve got some really great players.”

He says the loss of nightclubs is a shame, but times have changed:

“My first job in hospitality was as a DJ at Night Out in Knaresborough. It was amazing. I would get there at 10.30pm and by 11 the place would fill up. For those of us who lived through that generation, you’d finish your night in a club. But what nightclubs have become in the last decade is very different to what they were when I was younger.”

Although he thinks the general trend in the decline of nightclubs will continue, Mr Smith is not sure we’ve seen the last of them in Harrogate.

“I still think there is a demand for a nightclub,” he adds.

Do you think Harrogate should have a nightclub? Do you have fond memories or pictures of nights out in a Harrogate nightclub?
We’d love you to share them with us. Get in touch and send us your thoughts at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

The Pitcher and Piano in Harrogate has been taken over by the company that used to run the town’s Viper Rooms nightclub.

The bar, on the hospitality-rich John Street, will be known as The Harlow from Monday.

Paul Kinsey, who owns Harewood Group, announced the news today.

Mr Kinsey said in a statement:

“We are pleased to announce that from Monday, November 27 we have taken over the former Pitcher and Piano on John Street in Harrogate. In the short term it will be renamed The Harlow.

“We aim to immediately introduce live music and DJ Christmas party nights and create a great night out to complement our existing high quality food and drink service.”

John Street is a popular night spot.

He said the company was recruiting staff and management to add to the team it had inherited.

Mr Kinsey added:

“Then In the new year an exciting new concept will be introduced which we think our customers will love as much as we do.

“This is the start of our relationship with major pub companies taking over some of their sites and introducing the high quality management and entertainment that are our trademarks.”

Harewood Group owned the Viper Rooms, which closed in December last year.

Mr Kinsey lives near Harrogate and has continued to keep his eye on the market for opportunities.

The Stray Ferret reported in September that  the search was on to find a ‘self employed pub partner’ to take on the Pitcher & Piano.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Pitcher & Piano to change name and management
• Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms building still empty despite interest

North Yorkshire Council has said there has been interest from operators of nightclubs, bars and restaurants in taking on Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms building.

However, the building still remains empty more than seven months after the nightclub abruptly shut.

The council owns the Royal Baths building which was home to the Viper Rooms from 2007 until December 2022 when it closed after failing to negotiate a new lease.

The council changed the locks and about 30 staff lost their jobs just a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Viper Rooms was owned by businessman Paul Kinsey who also ran the former clubs Moko Lounge and Kings Club in the town. Its closure left Harrogate without a nightclub.

The council has instructed property agent Savills to market the property and it’s asking for a rent of £150,000 a year — but there have been no takers so far.

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of resources, Gary Fielding, said there has been interest from national, regional and local operators looking at using for the premises as a potential nightclub, bar or restaurant.

Mr Fielding added: 

“We hope the building will be occupied as soon as possible, but will ensure it is the right use, with a sustainable operator for the space. It is still early days in terms of marketing and discussions, and we would not identify interested parties at this stage.

“We are marketing the premises with an open approach to the rent to secure the right operator.”

Read more:

• Harrogate nightclub Viper Rooms closes suddenly
• New tenants soon for Harrogate’s Viper Rooms and nearby bar?
• Viper Rooms owner says Harrogate landlords need to ‘get real’ with rent