Plans for "newer and exciting" club Revenge after sister bar closure
Owners are sharing plans to revamp Brighton LGBTQ+ venue Revenge, a week on from R-Bar shutting its doors
The bosses of an iconic LGBTQ+ venue in Brighton which closed last week have revealed plans to revamp its sister club.
R-Bar, which is sister to Club Revenge, shut its doors after two decades over rising costs.
Since, owners have shared that they are beginning to focus on "things they've wanted to do for a while, but not had the capacity to do": "We're going to look at bringing in seated events at Revenge," shared Managing Director Steve Jones.
"We're looking at how we can better utilize our roof terrace space.
"Newer and exciting" Revenge
"We're looking at just generally how we can use the amazing space that we have more regularly on more days that we're currently closed, doing things in the evening, improving production, better lights, better sound.
"Just making the venue feel a bit fresher and newer and exciting."
With R-Bar the second bar to close this month, it comes alongside city-wide calls for a focus on safeguarding LGBTQ+ venues.
A group of businesses - including Revenge - have come together to call for a dedicated gay village to be created, improved safety measures and for the Pride weekend ethos to be continued year round.
"From speaking to other LGBT operators in the city, sadly, unless something changes and changes very soon, they will not be the last LGBT venues to close," Steve warned.
"Lots of operators are struggling. I don't know any of the LGBT venues that are going great guns and making huge amounts of profit.
"We are all working on incredibly tight and fine margins.
"We know the cost of living crisis is seemingly never ending and we are campaigning to government to improve things like business rates and VAT to help the tax situation that hospitality venues are in.
"But there are opportunities for the council and for the police and for licensing to really work together and make the running of our venues so much easier and more appealing for tourists to come to."
A Government spokesperson said: “We recognise many pubs and bars across the country are facing challenges, which is why the Prime Minister acted in his first week by announcing 20% off their business rates next year.
“We know this will be a concerning time for R-Bar’s workers and we stand ready to support.”
Council "committed" to promoting venues
Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “The announced closure of two LGBTQI+ venues in our city is heart-breaking and is a stark reminder that we need to protect our LGBTQI+ venues.
“As a council we’re committed to promoting and growing our night-time economy and supporting our LGBTQI+ venues, which are part of Brighton’s core identity.
“I can’t agree that the city’s best days are behind us though. We welcome more than 12 million visitors a year, supporting 25,000 jobs and driving an economic value of £1.4 billion.
“Our LGBTQI+ community plays a key role in this, which is why we continue to promote venues through our VisitBrighton platform and via marketing channels aimed at key audiences outside the city.
“We do realise clubs and bars need support and that this remains a challenging time for the sector.
“Last year we launched a radical new licensing policy to provide the flexibility operators need to adapt to changes in the economic climate and later this year will be launching a new nighttime economy strategy.