[Update] The Manchester Evening news is reporting that Sankeys has been shut down with “immediate effect”. The club’s former owner confirmed the building, Beehive Mill, where the club resides, has been sold to developers and will be turned into flats.
The news won’t come as a surprise to many who lived in Manchester. Ancoats, where the club is located, has seen a huge transformation over the last 20 years, and the threat of property developers has been something Sankeys has lived with for years.
It truly is the end of an era.
[Original story] It’s not the first time we’ve had to write about Sankeys Manchester closing down, and to be honest it probably won’t be the last. But it would appear the club is shutting down if rumours online are to believed.
The club did close down in 2013, when the decision was taken to focus on Sankeys Ibiza. But in 2014, the club reopened albeit less often and has been open pretty much ever since. With news that Sankeys East, a new club in Havering, Essex, is opening soon it could be the same situation once again.
If it does turn out to be true – and is permanent this time – then it’s a huge blow for Manchester’s nightlife as the club in recent years had turned to both local and international talent to keep the famed Sankeys spirit alive.
Opened in 1994, the club was instrumental in putting Manchester back on the dance music map after the city’s nightlife struggled to fill the void of The Hacienda closing down.
Everyone from Daft Punk to The Chemical Brothers graced the decks at the old Soap factory during its 23 years. And while it struggled to compete with the likes of The Warehouse Project in recent years, its impact on Manchester and its people cannot be underestimated.
If it’s true, I’m saddened to hear the news about Sankeys. Owning it 2000-2006 were fun and challenging years! A Loss to Manchester #Sankeys
— Sacha Lord (@Sacha_whp) January 12, 2017
