Long before Soho House had set its sights on Manchester, there was an exclusive private members club that would go on to change the city's social scene. The Circle club launched in 2001 in the basement of the Barton Arcade on Deansgate and fast became the place that everyone wanted to see and be seen.
Access was via a hidden door on a back alley at the rear of the Victorian shopping mall. Heading down the steps into an opulent underground club space with leather booths and a late, late licence meaning you might not stagger out again until dawn.
The club was initially launched by fashion stylist Dominic Apenteng, who alongside broadcaster Deepa Parekh, had the idea of establishing a "creative space for creative people". Membership was initially restricted to media and creative industries.
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But as word spread about the exclusive private members space, it fast became a place that famous faces and footballers were desperate to get inside to party at too. In those early years, you HAD to be a member to gain entrance, there were no exceptions.
It led to a famous incident where even superstar Justin Timberlake was turned away, as he wasn't a member. But as the club progressed and developed, the membership was to widen.
In 2007 the "Inner Circle" was established after the club was extended. It was a V-VIP space with a 7 deadly sins theme and darkly opulent interiors in seven themed booths that became the talk of the town.
Themed club nights would bring the party-loving crowds out in their droves, but trouble was inevitably to follow. After a brawl outside the club in 2012, the club was ordered to serve its high end drinks in plastic cups by council bosses.
It would spark the beginning of the end for the venue, and in 2013 it would close its doors for good after 12 years on the city scene.
But for many who partied there, the memories of The Circle club live on. Here we talk to some of the key people involved with the club about that time.
Deepa Parekh had been working as a radio presenter at the BBC in Manchester when Dominic first mooted the idea for The Circle back in 2001. She says: "He came from fashion, I came from media, and we both had this gripe that we were talented but we could never get to the right people - and so we wanted to create that space in Manchester as a media network.
"Dom had got the building on Barton Arcade and I remember on opening night in 2001 we already had 250 members. Everyone was paying £10 a month membership then.
"At the start the idea was quite pioneering, we created the original remote office space and were the first place to have wifi everywhere, there was no such thing as co-working back then. We had an “Inner Circle” steering committee with thought leaders from different industries and held some great media debates in those early days."
Dominic says: "I set it up because I wanted a space specifically for creatives and creative industries. It was a Soho House vibe... 20 years before Soho House came to Manchester."
It wasn't long before the private membership of the club made it a place of great intrigue to a wider audience. Deepa says: "Because it was private members, and the power of the grapevine, we became a very powerful spot.
"Celebs knew they weren’t going to be harassed when they were in there. Every member went through a rigorous process when it started, I know because I interviewed everyone."
Guests would have to show their grey and red Circle membership card to get into the club, with its "hidden" location on a back alley. It fast became of interest for industry events, with over 200 held each years, the likes of artist album launches for BMG and product expos for Land Rover.
"We were like the official Manchester house for a lot of these creative houses, and a place they wanted to be at," says Deepa.
And as for turning away Justin Timberlake? Deepa remembers it well. She says: "I remember being out on the back alley and a big limo pulled up - it was his security who came to do a security check of the venue.
"I said he couldn’t come in because he wasn’t a member, I was just doing my job! But at the time it became a big PR thing that everyone talked about."
The club would go on to welcome a host of footballers, and the entire England team. Deepa says: "It was a private space so they felt safe. There was only us and the Cornerhouse that stayed open 'til 6am at that time."
By 2007, the club had grown to 1,000 members. But Deepa was ready to leave and set up her own business, as was Dominic, who left in 2006 handing the reins to Elvis Jesus fashion boss David Mallon, with Craig Ince and Norris Panton as share holders.
The club would take on a more "London vibe" with murals of naked people on the walls and the "Inner Circle" V-VIP concept born. Deepa recalls: "By that stage they'd pretty much opened the doors, they were standing outside handing out flyers. It wasn't the concept that we'd started really."
Managing Director Craig recalls when David first asked him to get involved he had to persuade him that it would be good to widen the membership. He says: "It was still membership, but we broadened the criteria for membership. Before you had to be arts and creative industry, but then we said anybody who can pay for it can become a member.
"I remember saying it would be good to get the celebs and footballers in." And in they poured.
To cope with the number of famous faces, the concept of the "Inner Circle" as an even more exclusive offshoot was born and in 2007 would open it's rather unique VIP doors. Designed by the acclaimed Paul Astill, each booth was named and themed after one of the seven deadly sins.
Craig laughs: "Gluttony was the one everyone would fight over. The footballers would all want it. We'd end up having to do an auction on the minimum spends, it was crazy times!
"Minimum spend for the booths back then was £3,000, and for the big ones £6,000. But I remember one guy paid £15,000 just because he wanted the Gluttony booth.
"We bought this big huge door from Clerkenwell Prison, and you used to have to put your thumb print on it to get in. Looking back now, it was so tacky but people loved it.
"The big sell of the VIP membership though was the queue jump - there's nothing more important to people in Manchester than being able to queue jump. To be the person who goes straight to the front door and not have to queue."
The club would go on to host Christmas parties and end of season events for both Manchester City and United players, while Corrie would hold their Christmas do there too.
Craig says: "I remember Ronaldo coming in one time and he needed protection because girls were literally just grabbing him."
Hollywood stars and chart-topping performers would party there. Kym Marsh famously held her themed hen do there in 2012 ahead of her weeding to Jamie Lomas, with famous faces like Michelle Keegan and Brooke Vincent dressed as schoolgirls.
Craig remembers some of his favourite visitors, including Starsky and Hutch star Antonio Vargas, music performances from Labrinth and Emeli Sande, and impromptu nights out with Wiil.i.Am and David Hasslehoff.
Craig recalls: "When David Hasselhoff came in, I remember he came in with two friends, but ended up leaving with about 20!"
Themed club nights became a big draw for city socialites, with the monthly Candypants by promoter Lloyd Nwagboso being one of the most talked-about events.
There was also the Chocolate Factory on Saturday nights that was hugely popular with clubbers.
Craig, 54, from Didsbury, says: "It was glamour, it was a lot of dressing up.
"The music as well, we really dragged the R 'n' B scene into clubs and made it really popular.
"Before that you couldn't really go and listen to that kind of music in the mainstream but it's almost like that's now the go to at clubs."
Craig says the legacy of what The Circle achieved in Manchester is to be seen in the popularity of the clubs that opened in its wake. Former Circle manager Mo Mohamud would go on to set up his own club, Liv, which remains one of the biggest VIP hotspots in town now on Deansgate.
Craig says: "When you look at places like Liv now, they sculpted themselves on the back of what we had done - getting the celebrities in, targeting the footballers. They get the big artists, the people who play at the Arena, make sure they get them down to the clubs.
"That's what we did. We got big artists to DJ and that drove a lot of traffic to the club."
So where did it all go wrong?
Craig now pinpoints the decision to open The Kitchen restaurant in the ground floor space above The Circle as where things would start to unravel for the whole business. They lavished £250,000 on fitting out the venue back in 2009.
He said: "The mistake we made was opening up The Kitchen up the top, which was good for a year but when we lost the chef, we couldn't replace him. The rent for that was quite a lot for what we paid downstairs.
"We expanded too quickly. The kitchen upstairs was the biggest thing, it put pressure on us financially.
"In the early days it was busy and it was making good money, but when the restaurant didn't work we were losing money on it."
The popularity of the club also meant eyes were keenly drawn to what was happening there. A brawl outside the club hit international headlines when it was revealed two famous faces had been quizzed by police - although no charges were brought against either.
Craig said: "That story went in newspapers all over the world. After that incident, we had the police coming in a lot more. I felt we had more attention than we deserved when there were other places in town too.
"It led to more restrictions on our licence, and when they wanted us serving £600 bottles of champagne in plastic glasses, it felt like death by a thousand cuts at that time. All those things contributed to the end."
What happened next?
Before The Circle club had closed, Craig had already established the Circle 360 champagne bar brand that would open in the Trafford Centre in 2011.
It swiftly became a hit, and there was initially talk to take the brand out to shopping centres across the UK. So after The Circle club closed, focus swiftly turned to the bar instead.
For Craig, club life had already started to be difficult with two daughters (who are now aged 26 and 28). Craig laughs: "When my daughters got to an age where they wanted to hang out at The Circle, I thought no, this is the time to stop!"
Craig continues to operate the bar at the Trafford Centre which is now called Oh You Pretty Things. They have expanded with more booth seating at The Orient, and since the opening of the tram to the centre it has given him his busiest ever year at the cocktail bar.
Deepa went on to launch her own 7 Star Concierge business, and continues her media career, having recently launched her own podcast, Thinking Deepa.
Dominic returned to fashion styling and now has his own company Blackstar, working on art direction and fashion shoots and campaigns around the world.
The Circle club space would remain empty for three years, but in 2016 was taken on by the Be At One chain of cocktail bars. It gave a new lease of life to the basement club space - although it was to be short-lived when the pandemic forced its closure in 2020, and it was never to reopen.
Be At One has since opened in a new basement bar space on the other side of Deansgate instead. And as for The Circle space? Well, a new lease of life beckons for the basement venue with new owners set to unveil their plans soon....
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