Brighton night club to close

One of Brighton’s biggest night clubs is to close.

Project in West Street is one of two clubs owned by Luminar, which collapsed after being unable to service its debts.

The company lost almost £200 million in the year to the end of February and has debts of about £90 million. Its turnover fell 19 per cent during the same period to £137 million.

Alan Hudson, Alan Bloom and Tom Lukic, the joint administrators from accountancy firm Ernst and Young, are closing 11 of the company’s loss-making clubs at the cost of 300 jobs.

But they intend to keep open Oceana, also in West Street, for the time being in the hope of finding a buyer.

Mr Hudson said that several inquiries had been received about Luminar’s remaining 65 clubs which employ about 2,500 people.

Luminar blamed youth unemployment for its financial predicament, saying that it had adversely affected the spending power of 18 to 24-year-olds.

Project was formerly known variously as Tru, Creation, Paradox, the Pink Coconut and famously as Sherry’s, which featured in the Graham Greene novel Brighton Rock.