BOSSES at a High Street nightclub have revealed they’re carrying out a refurbishment after residents raised concerns it could close when signs were taken down suddenly.
The team behind Billericay High Street’s French Martini are hoping to transform the venue into a “bistro-bar” focussing on cocktails and food and expand on the two days a week the venue is currently open.
Residents had taken to social media this week to raise concerns the venue could be closing after workers were spotted taking down the signs outside the building.
Acting manager Barzy Othman, who took over last month, revealed that residents have nothing to worry about - adding they should be excited about the improvements planned.
He said: “We are re-painting the outside and the new signs were not permissible for the council.
“We are hopeful for the future, and we want to change the old image of the club from what the old manager had and put up decoration, there are big plans coming and we are going to be open this Friday and weekend.
“We are planning on doing a bistro-bar kind of thing and we are taking baby-steps as we do everything, the sign is something we don’t want any association with anymore.
“We want to serve food and reopen the kitchens and do bottomless brunches in the future, we pay a lot of rent and it is not worth being open for just two days a week.”
Barzy added that that the club was interested in moving towards a “classier” destination, and redoing to transform the club into “somewhere you can come for cocktails.”
He said: “It hasn’t been easy, we have had to deal with all of this ourselves.”
In September, High Court enforcement officers changed the locks to enter the club and put a notice of seizure in the window, following the sudden departure of their former owner.
The business is looking for a “new start” and is looking to get back to the positive standard the business has tried to keep since opening originally in 2020, transforming from a bar to a club in the past four years.
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