An award-winning speakeasy bar on Unity street which went on the market last year has just had its asking price reduced by £30,000. The Scarlet Lantern, once regarded as a ‘den of vice’ in the heart of Bristol’s bustling bar scene, was previously listed for sale at £130,000 for the leasehold back in August.
This was the first time the famed cocktail bar, formerly known as Red Light, had gone up for sale in nearly a decade. The listing for the 1,300 sq ft location boasting a 24-hour premises license now offers the lease for £100,000.
Scarlet Lantern was the second incarnation of Red Light which built an exclusive following over the years as the city’s ‘top-secret bar’. While described as ‘the younger, more accessible, and hipper younger sister’ to Red Light's ‘boozier, suave big brother’, Scarlet Lantern’s boudoir-style area aimed to continue the business’s sex appeal and upmarket quality.
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Marketed by Maggs and Allen, the business is offered for sale with a full inventory. Maggs and Allen’s commercial chartered surveyor, Toby Fisher, said: “Given the highly desirable 24-hour Premises License, it is no surprise that we have received numerous enquiries for this award-winning bar.
"The current operator is planning to relocate within the next few months and has subsequently reduced the ongoing premium to £100,000. This is a fantastic opportunity to acquire an established speakeasy bar situated in a prime position."
The terms of the sale on the listing state that the lease is held for a period of 20 years from the 21st December 2012 to the 20th December 2032, "on effectively full repairing and insuring term at a current passing rent of £9,800 pa, subject to review."
When the bar originally went up for sale last summer, The Scarlet team told Bristol Live that the decision to put the business on sale hadn't been easy as they reported that business was still booming. However, they said that after coming across an unmissable opportunity beyond Bristol, they believed it was the right time to take the leap with their next venture, which they hope will start a new chapter of growth and expansion.
Scarlet Lantern owner Alistair Woods previously said: “After nine fantastic years of owning both the multi-award-winning Red Light and Scarlet Lantern, my beautiful bar is up for sale.
“It was a hugely difficult decision to sell, but my path is leading to other ventures. This isn’t the end of the journey, and my passion continues within this industry. I want to say a massive thanks to all that were involved but especially my ex-long-term business partner Richard Tring.”
General manager Amie Smith added: “Essentially, we’re not going to be gone in the industry, we’re just closing the doors on Scarlet Lantern and starting something new and exciting. It’s sad to see Scarlet Lantern up for sale because I’ve been a part of it from the beginning.
“But you know, new opportunities come up and part of business is grasping those when you can. Just because Scarlet Lantern will be closing, it doesn’t mean we won’t be working on something like that in the future - it also doesn’t mean that we won’t be back in Bristol to do some new things in the future.
“It just means that for the time being, we have our sight set on a good opportunity that essentially we just got to grasp in these times. Right now we just want to honour the history of Red Light and the history of Scarlet Lantern and just close on a positive note.”
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