Legendary Manchester club Sankeys forced to close – to build more apartments

Legendary Manchester club Sankeys has been forced to close with immediate effect.  The owners had been in negotiations with the agents of Beehive Mill for some time with regards to the lease, but it has now emerged that the building has been sold to a residential property developer who intends to turn it into apartments. The owners are looking at options for a new venue.

The news was announced in a statement issued by Sankeys today.

It is with great regret and with a very heavy heart, we must close Sankeys Manchester with immediate effect. When you look around Ancoats you’ll see new apartment blocks and new developments throughout the area, we have done well to fend off the developers for so long. 

After our most successful quarter in 7 years it is a particularly bitter situation. However we must pay tribute to those guys who smashed it over the last 6 months, without doubt the recent influx of numbers made the landlords decision that bit harder. 

The club may be closing but the Sankeys brand will live on with Sankeys Ibiza, Sankeys East, a brand new venue which has sold out each show since opening and Sankeys Birmingham which is opening in March. Sankeys London will continue to throw huge events whilst Sankeys TYO will continue to fly the Sankey’s flag in the Far East.

The club, which opened as Sankeys Soap in the former Ancoats soap warehouse in 1994, has closed and re-opened several times since then. Amongst the big names who have performed there are Daft Punk, Moby, Bjork, and The Chemical Brothers.

Sankeys will also be running a series of pop-up events, the first of which is Sonny Fodera at Gorilla on the 11th February. They will be releasing details of all shows currently in the diary and whether they have moved venue, date or been cancelled completely.