COLCHESTER’S city centre will lose a major nightclub following struggles to get partygoers through its doors.

ATIK, in High Street, will close its doors for the final time on Saturday, June 3.

It is currently unknown what will replace the huge city centre venue.

A spokesperson for ATIK said: “Unfortunately, late-night trading, particularly around the 18/19-year-old market in Colchester has been challenging, so we have therefore taken the difficult decision to close the venue on June 3.

Gazette: Nightclub - Atik, in High Street, ColchesterNightclub - Atik, in High Street, Colchester (Image: Newsquest)

“We will work on our long-term plans for the venue and in the meantime, we would like to thank our staff and guests who have helped make ATIK such a great place to enjoy a night out since launching in 2016.”

The popular venue has been through many a rebrand. Initially the Hippodrome, it was sold in 2008, becoming Liquid and Envy.

In 2016, the nightclub was bought by its current owners, Rekom UK, and re-opened under its current guise.

Gazette: Refit - Liquid and Envy used to occupy the huge High Street siteRefit - Liquid and Envy used to occupy the huge High Street site

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The boss of Colchester’s business improvement district said his team were “extremely sorry to hear of ATIK’s impending closure”, and added the Government has a responsibility to ensure other venues aren’t forced to follow suit.

Colchester BID manager Sam Good said: “We need to see the removal of persistent barriers to our business with VAT reductions, a thorough business rates review, and tighter regulation on energy companies who are crippling our businesses.

“If not, this is going to continue to happen nationwide and locally.”

Gazette: Saddened - Sam GoodSaddened - Sam Good (Image: Newsquest)

Commenting on the future of the employees and the venue itself, Mr Good added: “We would like to offer our support to all employees of Rekom UK in Colchester in finding them new roles within the city centre and have a selection of potential businesses who we believe would be interested in a unit of this size and make-up.

“Despite ATIK's closure, Colchester’s leisure offering is incredibly strong with a wide variety on offer for those wanting to visit at night-time and we believe that it will bounce back from this news with the opening of the Boom Battle Bar premises in the former Debenhams building.”