Manchester club Sankeys to close in May

First Thatcher, now this: it looks as if Manchester club Sankeys is set to close. Based near the city’s Northern Quarter, Sankeys has been host to a who’s who of house and techno over the years, but the club will shut its doors in May so that the owners can focus their operations on its sister venue in Ibiza.

The club was first opened in the 1990s as Sankeys Soap (so-called because its venue used to be a soap factory) and played host to legends of house and techno, acting as a home for club nights like Bugged Out! It briefly closed in 2006 and reopened purely as Sankeys, and has been known for its heavyset lighting rigs. It’s maintained a reputation for bringing huge line-ups to Manchester, and in 2010 was rated the number one club in the world by DJmag, although its actual presence in the city is not felt nearly as much as the likes of The Warehouse Project.

In a statement made via the Sankeys Facebook page, the club’s owner Dave Vincent said:

“I have decided to close Sankeys in Manchester indefinitely this summer as I focus my attention on our third year in Ibiza. I want our Ibiza project to be the best club in the world, just like what we have achieved previously in Manchester, as I get the feeling this could be our summer. But I need my production and staff from Manchester to come to Ibiza with me to achieve this goal and therefore both clubs cannot be open at the same time. Who knows when we will be back in Manchester, or if we ever will be back, or what comes next in this great city I love.

The club will host a 12-hour closing party (based on _“the spirit of our epic 12-hour [Danny] Tenaglia sessions”, according to Vincent) on the bank holiday weekend of Monday May 6th, with Joris Voorn, tINI, Enzo Siragusa and Darius Syrossian all down to play alongside residents Jozef K and Us & Them. Further guests will be announced closer to the date.