Plans to open STACK venues at Whitley Bay's Spanish City and in the centre of Durham have been dropped by the firm behind the projects. STACK Leisure runs a number of venues around the region and further afield, but chief executive Neill Winch said it was now in the "best interests" of the areas to step aside.
Decision 'not taken lightly'
Mr Winch said the decision to drop the schemes had "not been taken lightly". He said that the firm had been "fully committed" to the locations, but that issues including unforeseen development costs and the wider pressures on hospitality firms had contributed to bosses changing tack.
The first STACK venue was opened by Danieli Group in Newcastle in 2018 on land that had been left empty when the Odeon Cinema on Pilgrim Street was demolished. Four years later, when STACK moved out of that land ahead of redevelopment, a whole range of other venues had been launched.
Existing and future sites
STACK sites run at locations including Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Seaburn, and St James's Park. A central Newcastle operation opened in Worswick Chambers last year. However, Whitley Bay's Empress Ballroom and the old M&S store in Durham now will no longer get the same treatment, though Mr Winch didn't rule out the idea that STACK could revisit those areas in future.
STACK had joined forces with property developer Mark Holmes in 2023 to kick-start existing plans to restore the Whitley Bay site, which had been delayed by the Covid pandemic. However, despite planning approval for a roof terrace being received, work to move the project forward had stalled. In Durham, the plan had been to restore the old M&S unit on Silver Street.
Reasons and future plans
Mr Winch said: "We recognise that there will be a huge amount of disappointment about these decisions. And these are not decisions we have taken lightly but we have had to look about where to focus our time, investment and resources. Rather than continuing to delay progress on these sites, we believe it is the best interests of both Durham and Whitley Bay to step aside and allow alternative providers to come forward."
He cited development costs, the pace the firm had been able to progress through planning and legal requirements, and infrastructure considerations among the reasons the two projects had not come to fruition. Mr Winch also highlighted the pressures on the wider hospitality industry.
He added: "STACK was fully committed to opening at both Whitley Bay and Durham and remained committed to the projects for a considerable period of time. When these sites were originally added to our development pipeline, our ambition was to deliver three to four new venues per year but in reality two sites a year is a more realistic number. While that ambition remains unchanged, the reality of delivering large-scale regeneration and hospitality projects has meant that pace has not been achievable. We do not want to continue holding back regeneration and investment while projects move further and further down our timeline so have had to make this very difficult decision."
There continue to be STACK venues in the pipeline in Bishop Auckland, Northampton, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. Mr Winch added: "STACK continues to perform strongly across its existing venues and we remain committed to our expansion plans. Our existing sites are trading well, we continue to invest in our current portfolio, and we are actively progressing a number of new developments across the UK."
The chief executive added that the decision did not reflect business performance, or the viability of the venues identified, but added: "It is simply a decision about prioritisation and ensuring our resources are focused on projects that can be delivered most effectively. We would never rule out returning to a location in the future if the right opportunity arose. However, Whitley Bay and Durham are not currently within our active development pipeline and our focus remains on delivering the projects already underway."
