Klute and Boathouse fate sealed
Klute’s final reckoning set for the last week of exams.
The Tab has learned that both Klute and Boathouse will be sold by the end of May as part of a PBR Leisure portfolio that has received ‘strong initial interest.’
According to an e-mail sent to a Tab reporter who has been posing as a buyer the ‘bid deadline has been set for Thursday 23rd May by 5:00pm.’
The e-mail, sent by estate agent Ross Bettbridge, also details ‘formal viewing arrangements for each individual property’ which in the case of Klute and Boathouse will take place at 12pm, 8th May for an hour.
Although estate agent Ross Bettbridge had previously told a Tab reporter that the owners were looking for offers in the region of £400,000, the guide price remains open to offers. In contrast to Boathouse, a larger bar which has been given guide price of a whopping £1,750,000, perhaps understandable given it’s annual turnover of just under £1,000,000 which has risen steadily for the last three years and it’s ‘stunning riverside location’.
Worryingly for Klute lovers, the page of the portfolio advertising your clubbing mecca promotes the site for ‘development potential’ and ‘alternative use potential’. However, prospective buyers may be buoyed by the financial details which reveal that Klute’s turnover rose by £150,000 last year, to just under £500,000.
Earlier assurances by Klute management that the buying process could take months, if not years and that it would be business as usual at the club look to have been premature. The fact that Klute’s reckoning has been placed within the last week of exams will be an unwanted weight upon the stress ridden shoulders of finalists, many of whom will have been looking forward to celebrating the end of exams in a club that has been a constant presence throughout their university experience.