Jeremy Joseph announced that G-A-Y clubs and bars, the brand he’d built up for 20 years, and now Heaven, undoubtedly the world’s most famous gay venue, were finally back under 100% gay ownership. Here’s the story of how it all happened, in Jeremy’s own words…
This is G-A-Y’s 20th year. G-A-Y started as a radio programme that I presented, and then a club night, and then the bar, and so on to what it is today. When I decided to expand G-A-Y from club nights at The Astoria to opening a bar, I took on Mean Fiddler as a business partner, and when Mean Fiddler was bought out by Live Nation, I expanded G-A-Y to open G-A-Y Late.
Then Mama Group bought Mean Fiddler, and with them and the Astoria being knocked down for Crossrail, we decided to buy Heaven, combining two of the biggest gay brands. Finally, HMV bought Mama Group, and with them, we opened G-A-Y Manchester, so without those four companies, G-A-Y wouldn’t be where it is today, and I thank them for their business support.
For the last 11 months I’ve known that HMV had made a strategic decision to sell certain businesses, which included the sale of their shares in G-A-Y. As the other shareholder in G-A-Y, I always had first rights to buy them.
I had to make a decision to either go it alone or go with a new business partner, but I’ve always preferred having that security of a partner, so I decided to go with someone who was a friend, I trusted and together I think we would have made an amazing team.
Unfortunately, spanners were thrown in the works, creating delays and with increasing legal fees; there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, so through no fault of my partner, the deal fell through, leaving me no option but to go it alone.
However, going it alone and borrowing in the current climate left me few options, and the opportunity to buy a good profit making company was going to be let go because banks are putting such restraints on loans that its near impossible for businesses to expand.
However, as luck would have it, a friend suggested a new bank and after looking at G-A-Y’s accounts, they gave a ‘yes’ to lending me millions… and I do mean millions! So, thanks to Metro Bank, I was given the chance to take the biggest risk of my life, and give G-A-Y a new future.
My life has been on hold for 11 months, and in the last month I have been pulled in all directions, and things became very complicated once HMV went into administration.
In order to keep the business going, I had to take money from my personal account to make sure G-A-Y was open last weekend. In fact I was very close to walking away, and calling it a day. I had been pushed to a point where I felt I couldn’t continue, and wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.
I had to pretend everything was normal, but it wasn’t. With all this going on, in a time of recession, and so many companies going into administration, was this the right time to take the biggest risk of my life? To borrow millions of pounds, put my home and company up as a guarantee?
Well, last week I signed my life away. I’ve taken my biggest risk, going it alone, no more business partners, just me. If this goes wrong, I lose everything, but risks are there to be taken.
I have a responsibility to the 200 people that G-A-Y employs, I have a responsibility to the customers who have been loyal to G-A-Y and I have a responsibility to all those people who believe in me and have backed me.
So, now that I have completed the deal in buying HMV’s shares in G-A-Y, and with the shares I already own, G-A-Y is 100 per cent owned by me. That’s the brand, the bars and Heaven, and with the team who work at G-A-Y, this is the beginning of a brand new era for G-A-Y.
What the future holds, I don’t know. We have a huge loan to pay back, but I will say this: my goal is that once the loans are paid back, G-A-Y will do more for our community, at this stage I’m not sure how, but the brand will hopefully grow and become more than just a business, but a gay brand that gives back and helps each new generation of lesbians and gay men with challenges that they face like G-A-Y has had to over the last 20 years to be where it is today.
HAVE YOU GOT THE CLUB FACTOR?
As my way of giving something back for the support I’ve had, I’m going to do the same for someone else & give someone the chance to put on their own club night. I will be launching an X Factor-style competition for Club Promoters.
With the recession and the need to keep door charges down, it’s very hard for up and coming promoters to start their own night. I was given the opportunity with Bang, and now I want to do the same for someone else.
The competition will be to write a proposal for a new club night in London, including budget, promotion, music policy, target audience, how many rooms, and which rooms at Heaven you would want to use. You don’t have to use the whole venue, it’s all about how many people you think you can attract, and then opening the right number of rooms to fit those numbers.
The Winner will get the chance to put their club on at Heaven on a Sunday night. If successful, it could go weekly or monthly which would then give you a permanent job with a salary.
This new night could be an already established club that you think could be expanded to move into Heaven, it could be a brand new concept, or it could be something that you would like to see on the gay scene, this is your chance to become a club promoter without taking any risks.
