Digbeth is Good
Culture, pubs and a whole lot more.

According to a promoter who runs a lot of nights at the Custard Factory, it’s 90% positive that it won’t close for good as a venue, but it will have different management and a ‘refocus’. Personally I think it’s been going downhill for a while now, so it’ll be good to see new blood inject a bit of life into the place.

Thanks for making the distinction between Factory Club and The Custard Factory. This has always been a problem, branding wise, in that people confuse the two.

My reading of this, based on no inside knowledge whatsoever, is that the venue known as Medicine Bar is changing focus when Devonshire House comes online. And that’s about it.

Factory Club will no doubt still do events in Space2 and will probably get one of the Wild warehouses on Floodgate St. The only change is they won’t drain the pool or have such a focus within the CF complex.

Which, of course, is a good thing as the CF complex has suffered from having a nightclub happening there every week. The state of the floorboards and the reported stink of piss on a Monday morning for a start.

This also potentially opens CF up for more interesting cultural stuff as the theatre, gallery and so on can be booked out without worrying about a club night happening in the pool at the same time. Of course the proof will be in the pudding but shifting Factory Club to somewhere more sustainable is a good start towards that.

In my personal opinion, I know as much as anyone on the outside, etc, etc….

I think that just about sums it up Pete. Except perhaps that there will be no more pool draining too. Which does take a venue out but any event that was there can be accommodated within a few hundred yards.

Mr. Ashton is right as culturally this could benefit the Custard factory but also the Medicine Bar is the thing for years now which has introduced people to the wonders of the Custard Factory as a whole. So it may be the businesses that celebrate but the store owners might see another fall in their profits with foot traffic falling to an all time low.

[...] (Nod to DiG who spotted this before me) [...]

@Mike

Most people who went to Factory Club events did so at night when the shops were shut. I doubt they even noticed the shops were there. In the meanwhile their shops were trading in the detritus of a nightclub.

The biggest problem CF has is Factory Club co-opted the Custard Factory brand so to most people CF = club nights. This might have been the case 5 years ago but it’s not the case now, especially with Devonshire House opening. Something had to happen and it’s been brewing for a good couple of years now.

I’m not against club culture, despite being a grumpy old cunt at heart, but it has to be acknowledged that corralling a load of drunk people into a small space every weekend, while immense fun, does tend to make a bit of a mess and require a lot of maintenance.

@John

My understanding (for what it’s worth, ie not much) is the pool will be drained a lot less from now on and only for unique special events (ie Supersonic). So it’s still an option as a venue if the case is made.

Some good points made there Pete, while I’ve had some great nights at the Factory Club (I’ll get it right this time!) I can understand it must be annoying for tenants to have to suffer that smell of piss coming from the back toilets. The potential for a better mix of other cultural events is also exciting.

As long as Digbeth continues to have a large ish venue to replace what used to go on at the Factory Club I’m happy, I just don’t want to see its closure become a victory for those people who want to see Digbeth lose it’s unique character and become another soulless plastic part of the city centre.

Oh, and the lineup for the closing weekend is awesome!

@Mike
Traders are likely to see a rise in footfall once the night club activities leave the pool area. For large pool drain events, there is a lot of disruption during the daytime, where set up of the marquee & staging start early on Saturday morning. Large items of equipment and tools are left blocking pathways (decking) and the celebrated Marquees block all light and view to the retail units. Many people do not attempt to visit the CF during these weekends, due to Gibb St being blocked by vans and mistakingly thinking the area is closed for ‘private function’ or ‘construction’.

I think it will benefit the CF greatly to have a clearer opinion on the CF’s prime use/service.

@Pezholio
If only the smell of urine only came from the back toilets… regularly have vomit & urine on our shop windows :s

@PeteAshton
Thank you for expressing yourself so clearly! Am feeling less lonely with my frustration…

Just wondering if this is a pre-emptive move against any potential noise abatement complaints that could be made against the complex?