Clarke Bell has rescued one of Manchester’s leading bars from having to call time.

TV21 Café Bar, based on Thomas Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter, was insolvent and threatened with creditor action which would have resulted in its closure.

Instead however, through a ‘pre-pack administration’, it has been possible to save the business and the employees’ jobs.

TV21 opened in November 2006, as a bar for people working in Manchester's TV and media industry, but struggled to establish itself in the Northern Quarter's busy bar scene. It had been up for sale with an asking price of £550,000 for more than a year, but failed to attract a buyer.

Adrienne Bennett, the owner of the TV21 Café Bar, has formed a new company called Bar 21 Ltd after what she called “the need for a management restructuring”.

Adrienne said the bar would continue to trade and she was confident it could be one of the Northern Quarter's top performers.

“The Administration was a way of clearing the decks and starting again,” she said.

“The new company is Bar 21, but the venue will still trade as TV21 and won't be re-named, although we are refurbishing and tidying the place up a bit.”

Adrienne said she would look to recruit a manager to take day-to-day control of the bar in the next 12 months, as she explores other projects.

“One option is something on the fringe of the Northern Quarter and another is somewhere completely different - but I can't say too much at this stage,” she said.

Manchester-based Clarke Bell were appointed as Administrator at TV 21 Café Bar Ltd and John Bell, its senior partner, said:

 “We are delighted to have been able to keep the business going and to save the employees’ jobs.

The alternative was that the bar would have become yet another bar to close in this Recession, with the loss of more jobs.”

{This item also appeared in Crain's Manchester Business and in Insolvency News.}