The White Hotel in Manchester will be closing down at the beginning of 2027, the founders have confirmed.
Austin Collings and Ben Ward, who opened the now iconic venue in 2015, shared the news in a new interview with The Guardian, published yesterday (Wednesday May 27). In the piece, they cited how the decision was reached due to Salford City Council’s Strategic Regeneration Framework – which places the former car garage in a flood-risk zone.
“Basically, it’s a swamp,” Ward told the publication, adding that they were pleased that they at least got to “go out on our own terms, long before we became a museum” and saying that it was a “surprise” that the venue “lasted this long anyway”.
During its 12-years, The White Hotel has become one of the most popular underground clubs in Manchester, and hosted performances from the likes of Jamie xx and SHERELLE.
In their interview, both Collings and Ward revealed that the venue was never intended to stay open as long as it did. Instead, they both opened it in 2015 and planned to stay there for just one year, before moving to Los Angeles, where the two of them have music and film contacts.
“Then, because it became popular, you realise, we’ve got to keep this going,” Ward said, while Collings credited the success to their principle of “minimum budget, maximum ideas”. They explained that it dawned on them how popular the space had become when Detroit’s DJ Stingray performed live there and the 300-capacity space was overwhelmed.
