30/08/2026
You’ve probably heard a lot about Northern Quarter recently. The current directors are leaving the business so it needs new people to run it. We made an announcement in July outlining the stark situation that was looming. That left everyone uncertain whether we were closing for good. To clear that up, behind the scenes we have been looking for ways to keep the venue open. The future is not set, to quote Sarah Connor!
NQ has always had a lot of love and support from the community, and last Wednesday evening we invited its members to a general meeting to discuss the future of the venue and what form it might take. Lots of people turned out and brought some good ideas.
In summary, the short term plan we came up with was to let the CIC, the Community Interest Company that was set up to manage events, run the whole of the business. For that to happen, it will need new directors, ideally at least three. We asked people from the meeting to get in touch if they thought they could do that.
Then last Thursday we held what was billed as the Final Wood Street Open Mic (to be clear, we hope it wasn’t, but it was important for people to know it might be). It was an amazing night that went on forever, and you could feel the love in the room for the venue and its community.
After that the bar ran dry and now the doors are closed, but we hope that’s not forever.
After we’d come round a bit, the people who’d expressed an interest in directorship arranged a follow-up meeting with the outgoing directors. That happened on Thursday evening. We had a full and frank discussion of the opportunities, the challenges and the possibilities for the venue continuing.
The next step is appointing those directors, who will then make a plan for getting the business on track. That plan will need people to make it real, and that’s where everyone else comes in. Because it’s not really about the directors, that’s just a necessary first step. It’s about the community, and keeping this place alive.
