Trades future safe despite demolition plans

Ashley Kelly reopened the town centre spot with partner Karen Thorpe in 2015 six months after it was closed by previous owners Coors.

Mr Kelly has submitted an application to knock down The Trades and expand the Bank Park car park next door, which he also owns.

But he said the move was simply future-proofing his business interests and did not mean the music venue’s days were numbered.

Mr Kelly said: “We have no intention of demolishing The Trades. We have invested a lot of money since reopening two years ago. It is purely a strategic thing.

“The Trades is still available for business and will continue to be so. We are just future-proofing our investment.”

The venue, on Greasbrough Road, looked doomed in early 2015 when talks between then-owners Coors, who took over in 2007, and a potential buyer broke down.

It closed in March, 2015, but reopened in September after Mr Kelly and Mrs Thorpe took over - bringing a full refurbishment and stronger focus on attracting live music acts.

Highlights in the past 12 months have included the Mayor’s Musical Showcase evening, a gig by 90s band Toploader and a screening of Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake in aid of foodbanks.

“We have worked really hard on The Trades,” said Mr Kelly. 

“The hardest part of the job has been to get rid of the working men’s club image and the next stage now is to build on what we have done.

“Keeping the name itself was a big decision but we felt it was better to build on that and get the brand reasserted.

“We’ve had a lot of live music and we want to have more of that and show people it’s a good place for people to come for private hire.”

Sheffield-based Bank Park has grown from one car park to 11 since 2012. It gives a portion of each parking fee to charity and has raised £116,000 to date.

The planning application said the site would have room for 70 spaces on top of the current 53 without The Trades building.