Bev Craig, who’s running for Greater Manchester Mayor, said the city has ‘never been as vibrant’ as she called for accountability from the owners over the strip’s demise.
Deansgate Locks’ owners have been slammed for ‘allowing decline’ and leaving the area an ‘eyesore’. Bev Craig, who’s running for Greater Manchester Mayor, said the city has ‘never been as vibrant’ as she called for accountability over the strip’s demise.
Both Popworld and Ark at the former nightlife hub on Deansgate Locks will close on Sunday, July 19. The closure of the two venues will bring to an end decades of entertainment along the stretch which once used to be the place to be.
The Locks, former railway arches, sit on the stretch of Whitworth Street West between Deansgate and Albion Street. Throughout the noughties, Deansgate Locks was known as Manchester’s most famous nightclub strip, packed with revellers and taxis bumper to bumper down the street into the early hours.
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In recent years though, it has become a shell of its former self.
A shift in nightlife habits, pressures on the hospitality industry, and the cost of living crisis have all been cited as reasons why the strip has struggled in the last few years. Issues with damp in the Grade II-listed structure have also been raised and previously plans were submitted to Manchester City Council to carry out repair works.
Asked about the end of an era and what she thinks should be done, Labour’s candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor and city council leader Bev Craig told the Manchester Evening News: “I think it’s just a visible sign of how cities change.
“Manchester’s nightlife sector has never been as vibrant. We’ve got more venues and businesses now for bars and hospitality across the city centre than we have had for a long time so it’s a sign of how things are changing.
“People when I moved to Manchester went to Deansgate Locks for a night out. When I came here in 2003, that was the place that you went to in town for a night out.
“Now people go all over the city centre, neighbourhoods, and local towns. I think what does need to happen in Deansgate Locks is the owners of that building have allowed decline there for quite some time.
“I’ve been working as the council leader with local councillors around a bit of accountability in not allowing those buildings to sit empty. I think there’s some great things with the right level of will and the right level of appetite from landowners they could do there and I think you could make that thriving.
“It needs the owners of those buildings to recognise things change. When was the last time many people went for a night out on Deansgate Locks and contrast that with the last time they went for a drink or a night out?
“It’s not that people have stopped drinking or having a night out. It’s that people have stopped going to Deansgate Locks. I think the sad demise of Popworld means there’ll have to be a new future and the owners of that building need to crack on because at the moment it’s a bit of an eyesore.”
She added: “We’ve never seen a city centre as busy from tourist numbers, footfall numbers, night out numbers, and the amount of spend that Manchester bars receive per head of the population. The night time economy is much stronger than London’s.
“On average, Manchester residents spend more income going out. It’s not that the city centre has seen a demise.
“It’s that a little strip of four bars have changed and I wouldn’t read too much into Deansgate Locks when a private company owns a couple of units they could simply do up and rent out for another business use.”
The owners of Deansgate Locks are listed as “SWIPACS1” in planning documents. The LDRS understands this is Scottish Widows, the insurance giant which deals with pension funds and property management.
The LDRS has attempted to contact the owners but so far have had no response. Stonegate Group are the leaseholders for Popworld and Ark and are not the owners.
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