The Liverpool nightclub owned by Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton had a rocky journey and became the only nightclub in the country to be shut down twice for incidents of violence.
H bar first opened its doors on Victoria Street in 2007 with the aim of “brightening up the street”. Situated in the middle of Mosquito and Metro, H was said to be “so much more” than its rival clubs as it “brought a little light” into the lives of its customers.
H was one of the pioneers in a welcoming new wave of establishments that were set to revive the part of the city centre. The venue was a bar, club and restaurant all rolled into one and saw famous faces party the night away.
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Made up of various levels, the downstairs bar boasted soft furnishing and pavement-level views which overlooked a “much grander lower floor that mixes a handful of comfortable outward facing booths with tidy tables”.
The bar wasn’t the biggest in the city but was very well-staffed and had a dance floor tucked away at the back beside the DJ booth. Whereas upstairs, H boasted a private members’ bar and a fine-dining restaurant. The menu had everything from skate wing and rib-eye steak to coconut mussels.
The clientele was predictably celebrity-rich but the venue quickly became known for much more than simply celeb spotting - with the bar becoming a hotspot for Liverpool gangsters and violent stabbings.
Singer Natasha, who is originally from Kensington, was in New York recording a new solo album when she got the call to tell her about a double stabbing at her bar. The 40-year-old admitted she was initially stunned, not because she was blind to the rising threat of knife crime but, because she never once believed it could happen so close to home.
She previously told the ECHO: “Maybe I was blinkered and maybe I was naive, but it honestly never occurred to me. I don’t know anything about gangs or gangsters, I’m a mum. You realise things happen, of course, but I don’t know that world and I’ve never been a part of it.
“I was confident we were doing the right things to keep a safe place. But knife crime now is happening every day, it’s so widespread, and that’s terrifying.”
Liverpool council’s licensing committee agreed to let Natasha and then-husband Riad Erraji reopen H bar as long as certain security measures were implemented. Natasha agreed claiming that both of them were always keen to co-operate and work alongside Merseyside Police.
She said: “What we’ve learnt is to step up the security even more. We’ve got a new security firm in, and we’re going to get a metal detector arch fitted - which is ordered and will arrive in a couple of weeks - and until then we’ve got hand-held metal detecting wands.
“Before, someone could walk into the bar with a knife and if they looked like an ordinary punter, how would we know? Now we will know and if someone is carrying a weapon they will be rejected.
“I think H bar now, with all the new precautions, will give people a safer place to go out. If you walk into somewhere and there’s a metal detector it’s not something to be afraid of, it’s something that should make you more relaxed because it’s there for your protection.
“We want to say to anyone who might want to carry a weapon when they go out, it isn’t going to happen in our bar, not again. If you’re carrying a weapon, we don’t want you, it’s as simple as that.”
The two men who were stabbed in the arm and leg were from Speke. They took themselves to the hospital before the police arrived and then refused to help with the inquiries.
H Bar would be shut down again - for the second time in nine months - following another violent incident despite their increase of security measures including plastic glasses, a metal detector and a reduction in opening hours.
This time round, three men were injured including two-door staff who received knife wounds - one on the hand and the other on the side of his body. Police said they were “thankful” not to be dealing with a murder inquiry.
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Merseyside Police had also revealed it was the only nightclub in the country to be shut down twice for incidents of violence.
After the string of incidents, Natasha vowed the bar would never open again as she then considered new ideas for the premises including a day-time venture.
Following the closure of H Bar, an LGBTQ+ club, Stray, took its place. It opened with Natasha and Riad controlling the lease but sub-letting the premises to Paul Buckley, a well-known figure in the city’s community.
At the time, Mr Buckley told the ECHO: “Because of the bad publicity, the bar is in an ideal location to be a gay venue. There will be no gangsters or scandal here – it will be a whole new scene.”
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