Bernard Manning’s comedy club up for sale

Bernard Manning’s comedy club, The Embassy, has been put up for sale.

His son, who has the same name, has put the venue up for sale, telling BBC Manchester: “I want to see if anybody is interested in running the club. I think cabaret is dead but then again some people have ideas, good ideas, maybe it can be brought back in a retro sense.

He later added in an interview with the Manchester Evening News: “I’m on the wrong side of 50 and my kids have got their own lives and aren’t interested in taking the Embassy Club on, so I’ve got to take the decision of what to do with it going forward.

“The club has got a strong emotional attachment for me – we’ve had it for 56 years – and in an ideal scenario I’d like for somebody with someone new ideas to come and refresh the place and have a go at it themselves.”

But the estate agents handling the sale, Roger Hannah And Co, are pushing the 5,000-sq-ft site’s development potential, and are not quoting a price for the property itself.

They said: “Initial discussions with Manchester City Council indicate that the property would be considered suitable for retail or leisure uses, subject to the necessary consents being obtained.”

Manning and his father founded The Embassy Club in the Manchester suburb of Harpurhey in 1959. In its heydey it was a major attraction for cabaret stars like Cilla Black and Englebert Humperdinck, but has more recently been used for community projects and private functions.

Manning Sr often claimed that The Beatles played an early gig at the Embassy Club, but there is no official record of the show.

Bernard Manning Sr died in 2007 aged 76.