G-A-Y owner gives away Manchester nightclub after mental health struggles

The owner of the G-A-Y nightclub group has announced he is handing over the Manchester venue to its current manager after struggling with his mental health throughout the pandemic.

Jeremy Joseph said he was inspired by the character of Willy Wonka and wanted to give away his ‘chocolate factory’ to a new owner.

He took to social media to confirm G-A-Y Manchester was being franchised to manager Lee Kellow, who Joseph dubbed his ‘Charlie Bucket’.

Joseph said he had considered selling the Manchester nightclub but didn’t want the city to lose an independent LGBT venue.

He added that he had been working on the decision ‘for the past nine months’ after realising he needed to ‘make changes’ in his life.

Joseph wrote: “I have, I hope, been honest throughout the pandemic on how it has affected me and running a business. Everyone has their own story and I realised that I needed to make changes in my life as I was no longer happy and every time I tried to make changes, I kept hitting brick walls. Even though for a lot of people, they have now got back to normality, I haven’t and where my head was a year ago, I'm still in that same place.

“The option to sell G-A-Y venues has been there but I wasn’t sure that was what I truly wanted, it’s strange how the pandemic has changed goals, dreams and ambitions.

“I always wanted a G-A-Y venue in Manchester….but since the pandemic I haven’t even been on a train and I knew that I couldn’t give Manchester the attention that it needed.”

Joseph was outspoken about the plight of nightclubs during the pandemic and challenged the government’s decision to introduced a 10pm curfew for late-night venues in September 2020.

Speaking to the I newspaper in February, he said the pandemic had cost his business more than £1m in overheads since it was first forced to close.

Joseph said he was now considering the future of G-A-Y's three London venues, adding : “I don’t know what the future holds for me, I now have to think what I want for me and the London venues, but the first move was to protect the future of G-A-Y Manchester and also protect the future of a friend."