Club chain unveils £2m expansion

Comedy giant Jongleurs has revealed its next expansion: with five new clubs set to open in Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle.

The expansion is part of its franchise deal with new company Momo Leisure, which began with the opening of a new purpose-built club in Nottingham in April.

The other new clubs will be opening before the end of the year, the chain says.

It is just one plank in the expansion strategy from Jongleurs founder Maria Kempinska and co-owner John Davy. The pair regained control of the brand following the collapse of Regent Inns last year and have been quick to build a new empire using the name.

Further expansion plans are already under way to put comedy nights into venues operated Novus Leisure, starting with the controversial move into Sway in Covent Garden last month, ousting the independent Big Night Out club after it had built up an audience for comedy there.

The Novus deal is expected to see new Jongleurs nights come to Portsmouth, Croydon, Glasgow and Leeds.

In addition, Jongleurs has been staging comedy in a variety of other venues, from the Tabernacle Centre in Notting Hill, West London, and Coyote Ugly in Bournemouth.

In total, the company says it is investing £2million in comedy venues this year.

John Davy said: ‘This fresh investment will help bring our unique offering to even more customers and new audiences. The appetite for a complete comedy and entertainment experience is stronger than ever and we are experiencing unprecedented demand from corporate and larger group bookings in particular who are looking for an entertainment one-stop-shop.’

Their franchise partner Momo Leisure was founded in 2009 by David Elphick, from Nottingham-based solicitors Poppleston Allen and Jez King, a former Regent Inns executive.

Jongleurs did previously operate in Manchester – but it was an early failure for the chain under Regent, closing in 2006.

Published: 2 Jun 2010