New club opening at Merry Hill's Waterfront
A new club will bring the latest in live comedy and music when it opens its doors later this month following a £250,000 overhaul.
The venue, once the popular PJs bar, had stood empty for more than 10 years and become rundown when a husband-and-wife team decided to bring it back to life.
Vicki and Darren Wilkes are the driving force behind Red by Night, a new bar and live entertainment venue on the canal side at the Waterfront in Brierley Hill, which has created 15 new jobs.
The couple ran a successful engineering business in Brierley Hill, travelling the world and working with large global companies, until selling up three years ago.
Vicki said: "After some soul-searching and toying with the idea of opening a bar in Austria, we decided the Waterfront was the place we wanted to be.
"We know the area well and remember those fantastic nights out at the Waterfront all those years ago."
Red by Night, named in honour of the Black Country’s industrial heritage, will be the 43rd new business to open at the Waterfront since Dudley Council secured enterprise zone status for the area in 2017.
Darren has put his engineering skills to good use, designing themed features throughout the venue. As a nod to its waterside location, the side of an old canal barge will form the front of the new bar.
Vicki added: "We’re putting our hearts and souls into this project. We’re passionate about providing a high quality experience for our customers and don’t believe in cutting corners.
"We’re also hugely passionate about the Waterfront regeneration and our business being part of its success.
We want everyone to feel welcome and plan to have student nights when the new music university Resonance opens but on the whole we’ll generally be tailoring to a more mature crowd. We plan to have a range of different styles of music, live bands, comedy and regular open-mic nights."
New staff include bar manager Rachel Marson, who used to manage the bar in PJs. The venue will open on October 26.
The new venue will be open Wednesday to Sunday. For more information about the venue follow Red by Night on Facebook (@redbynightvenue).
