Manchester club plans new venue

Club owner Dave Perkin has just bought a pub on the Blackpool beachfront, which he plans to convert into a new outpost of his celebrated venue.

He says he will spend £250,000 converting the Beach Tavern, revamping the pub downstairs and converting the upstairs space into a comedy club, which could be open as early as September,

The pub will be renamed Tommy Ducks, after the now-demolished Manchester bar where the Frog and Bucket first started in 1993.

It moved to its current location in 1996, and over the years helped build the careers of Peter Kay, Johnny Vegas, Caroline Aherne and Dave Gorman.

Perkin’s company, Rossbranch, now has a turnover is around £1.9million a year, of which £1.2million comes from the Frog And Bucket. He hopes the new Blackpool venue could boost that figure by another £1million.

He told the Blackpool Gazette: ‘We have big plans for our new investment. We will be doing a quick refurb of the ground floor and open in the next couple of weeks. Subject to planning permission we will also be changing the look of the place, changing the exterior and completely transforming the upper floor for the comedy venue.

‘I've been coming to Blackpool since I was one and the place has always seemed to me to be a good laugh.’

Published: 21 May 2008