Rekom UK (formerly The Deltic Group Limited & The Luminar Group Ltd.) is a private company with an estate of 46 nightclubs and has the largest square footage of nightclub capacity in the United Kingdom.
History
Luminar Group Holdings plc was established in 1988, with the opening of its first nightclub, Manhattan Nitespot in
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
, Norfolk. The continued growth in the
discotheque
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
division and the creation of the popular
Chicago Rock Cafe
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding prom ...
concept meant Luminar became a successful leisure company of the early 1990s. It floated on the stock exchange in May 1996. There was a large expansion of Chicago Rock Cafes in the late 1990s. Luminar also ran and owned a couple of themed Australian restaurants, Tuckers Smokehouse, which opened at
Kettering
Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...
in Northamptonshire and
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
in Essex. From August 1999 there were discussions with Northern Leisure about a possible merger. In November 1999, Luminar bought twenty nightclubs and seven bars from Allied Leisure for £34m.
Luminar bought Northern Leisure in May 2000 for £392m with a combined total of 237 nightclubs and late-night bars. In 2001 it opened 41 new venues, 44 in 2002, and 30 in 2003. In November 2003, it consolidated its range of nightclub brands into the four main divisions – Oceana, Liquid, Life and Lava-Ignite. In June 2005, it sold 49 nightclubs to a
management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...
, which became CanDu Entertainment for £27m (which was later bought by
Agilo in March 2008 after entering administration in March 2008).
Luminar sold the Entertainment division that included the Jumpin Jaks and
Chicago Rock Cafe
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding prom ...
brands to 3D Entertainment in December 2006 for £79m, in a
sale and leaseback
Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done fo ...
deal.
Luminar Group Holdings plc was placed into liquidation on 26 October 2011. Luminar Group Ltd was incorporated on 5 December 2011 and headed up by former managing director Peter Marks, retaining the brands and most of the venues the previous company operated.
The Luminar Group Limited acquired both Chicago Leisure Limited and Chicago Leisure (MK) Limited on 7 November 2014. On 17 May 2015, The Luminar Group was rebranded as The Deltic Group Limited, with their recent expansion into the late bar market.
In December 2020, Deltic Group announced that it was on the brink of administration and looking for a buyer.
On 17 December 2020 it was reported that Scandinavian company Rekom had purchased The Deltic Group with Peter Marks continuing on as CEO of the UK sites.
Locations
The company created the Atik brand in 2016, which has the following locations:
*
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
- opened 2018, replaced the Institute club which had been open since 2012
*
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
*
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and
is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...
*
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
- replaced Cav
*
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
*
Hull
*
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
- opened in 2016, replaced Lava & Ignite
*
Romford
Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...
*
Tamworth
*
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
*
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
Controversies
In June 2019, the company along with door staff company Securigroup Services Ltd, and its former general manager Wayne Mason were ordered to pay £110,000 in fines and court costs, for creating a fire risk hazard at its Kuda nightclub in York.
References
External links
*{{official website, https://rekom.uk
Hotel and leisure companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Milton Keynes
Entertainment companies established in 1988
Privately held companies of the United Kingdom