Fishbowl cocktails and bubble bombs will star on the mixologist’s menu as a stylish late night bar gets ready to shake-up Lincoln’s nightscene with a Christmas gift of about 30 new jobs.
Chartered surveyor Banks Long & Co today revealed it has leased the former Wahoo nightspot in Silver Street to a new tenant and the venue is undergoing a £100,000 transformation which will see it re-born as Quo Vadis.
News follows the Lincolnshire-based Orange Pip Company’s decision to invest in a slice of the Lincolnshire Co-operative-owned Thomas Parker House in the city’s cultural quarter.
The move also signals the return of Lincoln-born Nigel Collinson to his home city. As general manager, he brings with him a wealth of leisure industry experience.
Mr Collinson is a former British Entertainment & Discotheque Association manager of the year – a recognition gained during a 10-year spell as regional director of London’s Hippodrome and fourteen related sites.
“We are excited to be launching our new late-night venue, which will be open from 8pm until 3am seven nights a week, and offer people relaxing surroundings in which to enjoy premium spirits, bottled beers and great cocktails,” said Mr Collinson.
“We believe our venue, which will be licensed to admit up to 700 people and feature both island and cocktail bars – including ten intimate booths capable of seating groups of up to eight friends – will appeal to both the student and “more grown-up” market.”
“Quo Vadis will also be giving Lincolnshire’s best DJs the chance to hit the decks and put the venue’s great new sound system through its paces and Quo Vadis will have laser effects too.”
Now, the finishing touches are being put to the revamp before Quo Vadis officially opens its doors to the public on Friday, December 7, in time to get itself noticed by the extra visitors who will be in the city for the annual crowdpulling Lincoln Christmas Market.
Banks Long & Co Director James Butcher said: “We are delighted to have leased these premises and to see new life being breathed into this highly-visible site in the city centre.
“Quo Vadis will bring an extra dimension to this part of Lincoln, which is already well known for its leisure and cultural offering.
“It is also great to see new jobs being created at a time when the University of Lincoln continues to expand, there is a major drive underway to bring in more day and longer-staying tourists and Lincoln has a vibrant and growing shopping offering.”
A recent survey by Lincoln BIG, which serves about about 850 levy payers in an area stretching from Newport Arch, in the Uphill part of Lincoln, down to St Marks on the southern section of the High Street, reported that just 35 – or 7.6 per cent – of the 459 retail outlets within the BIG levy area are currently empty, which is a clear sign that Lincoln continues to buck the national trend.
