Award winning bar & live music venue in Newcastle sold through Christie & Co

Opened in 2011, Hoochie Coochie is an award-winning venue designed for people to enjoy funk, soul, and jazz music in the heart of Newcastle. The bar is located on Pilgrim Street, which is emerging as a thriving licensed and leisure circuit brimming with bars, restaurants, retail and hotels, and licensed to open until 2am Friday-Saturday, and 1am Monday-Thursday.

Hoochie Coochie came to the market as the former tenant wished to retire after 13 successful years of running the business. This presented a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious operator to take over a free-of-tie lease with a private landlord.

Formerly a restaurant, the new owners intend to bring the kitchen back in to use and re-introduce a food offering. They have ambitious plans to broaden and strengthen the customer experience whilst building on the foundation of the late-night live music programme for which the venue has become renowned.

The nearby area is in a transformative era, including a multi-million-pound business, leisure and hospitality redevelopment scheme, comprising the luxury Hotel Gotham, STACK and other independent leisure operators at Worswick Chambers, as well as the HMRC office building which is under construction. Bank House has already opened and has driven hugely increased footfall to this part of the city which already boasts Tyneside Cinema, restaurants like Horticulture and Gaucho, and other leisure and retail tenants.

David Cash, Regional Director for Pubs & Restaurants handled the sale and comments, “Hoochie Coochie is a stalwart of the live music scene in Newcastle, and UK-wide. The location is second to none and Pilgrim St, already a very popular licensed circuit, is set to become even busier with all of the development going on this side of the city. We were met with much interest for the site and have a number of disappointed applicants looking for alternative licensed venues in the city centre.”

Warren Thomson, owner of Hoochie Coochie comments, “I opened and launched Hoochie Coochie in 2011, as a venue to showcase and promote music of black origin in Newcastle. Over the past 13 years, we have hosted over 1,000 gigs with local national and international musicians, right up to Grammy winners. We have enjoyed unbelievable performers and stunning musicians and have been able to share this with music lovers, who’ve become friends. We achieved this whilst donating our small profits to charities.  

“The HC brand and reputation means an awful lot to me so, to be handing over to friends, musicians and customers, gives me the greatest pleasure and I am incredibly confident in their ability to carry it forward. Meanwhile, I’ll be slowing down a little and building our little bar/cafe business - The Hooch on the Quayside, which offers an eclectic choice of music, drinks and food.”

Michael Lavery, a well-known musician and promoter, and the Managing Director of the new ownership team added, “As live music fans and ambitious North-East based investors who have built successful global businesses in other sectors, we are very excited to take on this landmark premises and to secure its future as a high quality and inclusive live music venue. We want to build on the legacy of Warren and his team and invest in the venue as an important cultural institution for the city.

“While people can expect to see many of the same faces and the same great music and welcoming atmosphere, we have plans to work closely with our partners and customers to take the venue to the next level, in line with the exciting transformation of the Pilgrim Quarter over the coming months and years.”

Gillian Bassett and Tim Clarke of Clarke Mairs acted for the vendors. Alok Loomba and Nathan Johnstone of Sintons acted for the purchasers and Georgia Whitfield and Nicola Tiffen acted for the landlord.

For further information on this press release, contact:                 

Niamh Toman, Junior Corporate Communications Executive 
P: +44 7768 646 984 or E: Niamh.toman@christie.com  

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