19/08/2018
In September last year I came across a wonderful building for sale on Nelson Square, Bolton which was an old run down nightclub which had been closed for a while.
I had only been in the building for a minute and perhaps I had not got past the bar itself when I decided I wanted to purchase the building.
After a month or so the bar was mine and I was soon knocking down walls and had a vision to create a bar that I would one day like to drink in myself.
I employed a team of carpenters, builders and decorators and we set to work to create something special, with me making up every bit as we went along pretending, or at least trying to pretend, to know what I was doing.
The builders soon become friends and they sometimes questioned my vision as I perhaps sometimes did.
Claire, a long time friend, then joined the team as manager taking control of the day to day running of the bar and making sure all of our paperwork etc was in place and another role she had was to employ staff, and what a great job she did.
Our bar team was soon in place with Charly, Carrera and Sam and what a great asset they have been to the bar, maintaining the level of professionalism I had only dreamt about if I one day had a bar.
Other team members have joined the bar all of whom have become outstanding and valued members of Madisons.
The bar was finished at the end of January after many long hours, which often meant the builders working 12+ hr shifts and the only thing left to do was to think of a name for the bar.
After talking to my 11 year old daughter we agreed to call the bar Madisons after my daughter, even though in her typical generous manor she wanted to call it after our surname just so she could involve me in the bars name.
Even Madison worked hard polishing the brass etc and designing the staff uniform on a piece of scrap paper, which a large poster was copied of this sketch which is proudly situated next to the office.
We then opened the bar in February, and even at that point we were still working as the first customers walked through the door!
Since we have opened, we have been blessed to welcome many incredible people through our doors. Many have been not just regulars supporting the bar, but more importantly become friends and every time we open it’s like having family coming to visit.
Now the time has come to lovingly hand over Madisons, as i feel that I can’t take the bar to the next level that the bar requires. My level of skill in running bars is like when I pretended to know what I was doing with the builders.! My knowledge of running bars is probably as limited as were my building skills,and although I achieved my dream in creating a bar that I would like to go to, and achieving a bar that was better than I hoped for, I have found another owner for Madisons in Amber Taverns who will take our bar to the next level.
Amber Taverns is a professional company with a great management team, and I am personally excited to watch them turn the bar into another one of their great success stories.
Bank holiday Sunday will sadly be the last day I open Madisons and will be an emotional day, not just for me, but also the great team that are behind Madisons. It will be great to see as many of our loyal customers so that I can personally have the opportunity to thank them and to say goodbye.
In closing, I would also like to thank my sister Deb who helped create the bar and other people like Bolton Security that provide us with door staff that are professional and friendly, helping maintain our high standards.
Best wishes and a million thanks
Chris
