Rekom UK
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Late Night Entertainment |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Defunct | January 17, 2024 |
| Fate | Administration |
| Headquarters | Milton Keynes, England |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Key people | Peter Marks (CEO) |
Number of employees | 1,000 - 1,900 |
| Website | https://rekomgroup.com/ |
Rekom UK (formerly Deltic Group & The Luminar Group Ltd.) is a private company with an estate of 35 nightclubs and 12 late-night bars across the United Kingdom. Rekom owns the brand names of PRYZM & ATIK. Rekom called in administrators 17 January 2024 blaming higher energy prices and lower student spending due to the cost of living crisis.[1]
History
[edit]The Luminar Group Ltd was established in 1988, with the opening of its first nightclub, Manhattan Nitespot in King's Lynn, Norfolk. The continued growth in the discotheque division and the creation of the popular Chicago Rock Cafe concept meant Luminar became a successful leisure company of the early 1990s.[2] It floated on the stock exchange in May 1996. There was a large expansion of Chicago Rock Cafes in the late 1990s. Luminar also ran and owned a couple of themed Australian restaurants, Tuckers Smokehouse, which opened at Kettering in Northamptonshire and Chelmsford in Essex. From August 1999 there were discussions with Northern Leisure about a possible merger. In November 1999, Luminar bought twenty nightclubs and seven bars from Allied Leisure for £34m.
Luminar bought Northern Leisure in May 2000 for £392m with a combined total of 237 nightclubs and late-night bars. In 2001 it opened 41 new venues, 44 in 2002, and 30 in 2003. In November 2003, it consolidated its range of nightclub brands into the four main divisions – Oceana, Liquid, Life and Lava-Ignite. In June 2005, it sold 49 nightclubs to a management buyout, which became CanDu Entertainment for £27m (which was later bought by Agilo in March 2008 after entering administration in March 2008).
Luminar sold the Entertainment division that included the Jumpin Jaks and Chicago Rock Cafe brands to 3D Entertainment in December 2006 for £79m, in a sale and leaseback deal.[3]
The Luminar Group Ltd was placed into liquidation on 26 October 2011.[4] Luminar Group Ltd was incorporated on 5 December 2011 and headed up by former managing director Peter Marks, retaining the brands and most of the venues the previous company operated.[5]
The Luminar Group Limited acquired both Chicago Leisure Limited and Chicago Leisure (MK) Limited on 7 November 2014. On 17 May 2015, The Luminar Group was rebranded as The Deltic Group Limited, with their recent expansion into the late bar market.[6]
In December 2020, Deltic Group announced that it was on the brink of administration and looking for a buyer.[7] On 17 December 2020 it was reported that Scandinavian company Rekom had purchased The Deltic Group with Peter Marks continuing on as CEO of the UK sites.[8]
Rekom called in administrators on 17 January 2024 blaming higher energy prices and lower student spending due to the cost of living crisis.[9][10] The administration process will only affect the UK branch of the company.[11]
Controversies
[edit]In June 2019, the company, and its former general manager Wayne Mason were ordered to pay £110,000 in fines and court costs, for creating a fire risk hazard at its Kuda nightclub in York.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "UK's largest nightclub owner calls in administrators". BBC News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ The Makings of Luminar, The Luminar Staff and Shareholder Handbook, 2005, page 1.
- ^ "3D Entertainment begins trading". 24 January 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
- ^ "Death club firm in administration". BBC News. 26 October 2011.
- ^ "Nightclub firm Luminar in administration". BBC News. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ^ "The Luminar Group Rebrands After Three Years of Consecutive Growth". Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ^ Munbodh, Emma; Grimshaw, Emma (11 December 2020). "Owner of Gloucester's Atik on brink of collapse". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ "The Deltic Group saved by Scandinavian company". Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ Mucklejohn, Lars (15 January 2024). "Nightclub giant Rekom calls in the administrators". CityAM. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Rekom UK nightclub operator calls in..." The Caterer. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Venues at risk as nightclub giant Rekom UK set to hire administrators". Bracknell News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Fire risk at York nightclub 'too awful to contemplate'". York Press. 22 June 2019.