Some of the original nightclubs included The Empire Square Ballroom, Leicester Square; Romeo & Juliet’s Sheffield, Romeo and Juliet’s Blackburn, Pink Coconut Derby, Slick Chick’s fun pub Derby, The Dome (formerly the Old Nightout Club) Birmingham which was the first club in the division to turn over 1 million pounds pa outside of London and Pagoda Park, Birmingham.
In 2000, a management buyout (MBO) led by Candover and supported by 3i and PPM Ventures saw First Leisure shed all but its Nightclubs and Bars division, which retained the First Leisure brand and consisted of approximately fifty mainstream high street venues.
The MBO saw the company de-listing from the stock exchange (whilst retaining its plc status) and moving its operations to Leicester.
A clause of such sales mandated that should those new operators be unable to meet their obligations under the leases they would be automatically reassigned to First Leisure with little warning or ceremony.
Unable to meet the dramatically increased month-to-month obligations brought about by this mandatory re-acquisition, the company was subject to a Winding Order by a trade creditor and hence placed into Compulsory Liquidation by the Official Receiver.