Brighton Coalition is being sold to the owners of one of its former neighbours, Shooshh.
The seafront nightclub is one of several bars run by Eclectic Bars Ltd, part of the Brighton Pier Group, and the name in which the club’s premises licence was held.
But after that went into liquidation as part of a reorganisation of the group, the club’s licence automatically lapsed, and the club has now temporarily closed.
A new licence application has now been submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council by Park Direct UK Ltd, which previously ran Shooshh and Hideout. The application says it will still be run under the trading name of Coalition.
Park Direct UK Ltd, owned by Abraham Saliba and whose main business is running car parks, also applied to take over the licence for Arch and Hub a few doors down from Coalition in Kings Road Arches.
Brighton Pier Group chief executive Anne Ackford said: “Eclectic Bars Ltd went into liquidation on 24 November 2023 as part of our simplification process to reduce the number of companies in the bars division.
“Coalition is (and always has been since the lease was acquired in 2013) owned by a different company in our group, Eclectic Bars (Brighton Arches) Ltd.
“The licensing regulations require a license to be transferred or allowed to lapse within 28 days of a company going into voluntary liquidation.
“The licence lapsed after this permitted period and we made the decision to cease trading the venue pending a sale.
“Shooshh under the name of Park Direct UK Limited have now approached us regarding a sale and have applied for a licence in their own name.
“Whilst we are very sad to no longer have a late night venue in Brighton, we believe the sale to Park Direct offers Coalition an exciting future.”
A council spokesperson said: “We recently became aware that the licence for Coalition Brighton has lapsed.
“Having looked into the situation, we believe that in this instance it was a genuine mistake rather than an attempt to circumvent the law.
“The applicant for the new licence has assured us that the premises are currently closed, and that they are aware that they cannot reopen until such time as a new licence is agreed.
“Our licensing team and the police will monitor the premises to ensure they remain closed until such time as it regains its licence.”
