Four years after a glitzy celebrity opening Carl Froch's Nottingham's rooftop terrace bar Alto has gone on the market. The boxing legend teamed up with businessman Marc Brough to bring a touch of class to the city's nightlife at the Cornerhouse, when the late-night bar with sleek, white decor opened in August 2018.
But the bubble has burst, with the duo blaming insufficient time to focus on the business and the impact of the Covid pandemic on footfall. Recent visitors have slammed the bar on the second floor of the leisure complex for lack of cleanliness and its shabby state, with one saying: "It's like nobody has looked after this place and nobody cares."
Mr Froch, who runs a property company and is a boxing pundit for Sky Sports, is currently a silent shareholder, having stepped down as a director three years ago. He said: "It's not the kind of establishment I want to be associated with and that's why I'm no longer a director of the place.
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"I have zero input in the running of the establishment and I haven't for the last three years in terms of door control or clientele, even down to what music the DJ plays and the kind of people that are allowed in the place.
"It's a complex scenario that I don't really want to go public with. My business partner is trying to get rid of it at the moment. I don't blame him. It's too time consuming. It's hard work."
Mr Froch, aka the Cobra, said he could be tempted to stay on-board if he was able to find a new business partner, who had the passion, time and energy to make the bar the successful venture he initially dreamt about. "It's a lovely part of town, it's got a nice view and it's really big. At the minute it doesn't seem to be ticking the boxes for me.
"It's become dilapidated- it needs a facelift and a new burst of energy and somebody to go in and run it who has some time and passion in the industry, so I'm looking for a business partner at the moment and if that doesn't happen then we'll just go ahead and get rid of it. I haven't got enough time to be personally involved in running the place and getting an establishment I'd be happy with so I am going to concentrate on my number one passions, properties and working with boxing.
"I grew up in pubs and it was always a dream of mine to have a really nice place in Nottingham that everyone would want to go to and enjoy but it's not worked out. I wanted to run the place differently - to have a classy establishment. It was lovely when we opened it.
"I wanted to have a really classy establishment for mixed age people rather than targeted at younger people. I didn't want it to be a student bar, I wanted it to be for all ages. It was a nice place but Covid ruined it to be honest. You didn't get the footfall.
"Not all business ventures work and the leisure industry with Covid has been hit the most. A lot of bars and restaurants had to change the way they did business. It needs to be moving with the times. I might partner up with a new buyer. I've not totally decided to get out of it - if I get the right person to run the place.
"It could be a fantastic place. You need a good chef and someone running it with passion. I'm too busy to be involved in that. You have got to live and breathe the lifestyle. I grew up in pubs and I saw the hard work my mum and stepdad put in the bars. It's not worked out the way I wanted it to because I was too busy with other things," said the retired super middleweight, whose ambition had been to get some of his celebrity pals along for guest appearances to add a "sprinkle of stardust."
Business partner Marc Brough, who rents out serviced offices, said he wanted out of the bar industry completely. "I am selling all my bars. It's not our main business. We're exiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Derby.
"Covid killed it. The whole dynamics have changed. We've got a bit older. We'd have probably exited anyway after a five year run if I'm being honest but Covid probably accelerated that. It's just ready for a new lease of life and someone else to have a play with it.
"Once Covid hit it went from hero to zero like every other bar. When you've had two years worth of that... if it had been three months it would have been different. We are still feeling the effects of it now. There's still not the footfall there was. For us it's a strategic business decision. It's probably running at half to 60 per cent."
A string of recent online reviews have slammed the bar. One said: "My god as this place gone downhill. Went for a drink yesterday and I genuinely don’t think it was cleaned from the night before. The girls' toilets were filthy! Black marks from everyone’s shoes all over the floor, SICK in the sink, chewing gum left on the side, empty tablet packets. It was truly disgusting! Then onto the room/dance floor itself, the booth seats are worn down and you could actually pull the back of them away, floor was coming up in areas, the stools were all worn, damaged and all rusty. Shame because it was a booming bar when it first opened. Needs closing down and a revamp."
Another one star review said: "This used to be an up market bar, now there's makeshift toilets that don’t lock, no loo roll, no wine or Prosecco in the whole of the establishment. A very low class bar, think it’s time for new owners and management asap before they crumble this venue to the ground, very poor."
One man wrote: "Very grubby venue they never bother to clean anything." The bar is on the market with Box Property. Terms are to be agreed and rent is available on application.
