Dear Patchers — welcome to your Thursday edition.
Trouble is afoot in Birmingham’s Gay Village. A few weeks back, news broke that the parent company of some of the village’s best-loved venues, including the iconic Nightingale, was in serious financial trouble. Since then the company’s directors have rushed to quell fears of closures and job losses. But that hasn’t stopped the rumour mill from turning.
The man at the helm is Lawrence Barton, the face of Birmingham’s Gay Village as director of Pride and the face of three popular venues. But Barton’s influence is wider than that. He holds numerous posts — from nighttime economy champion for the city region to deputy lord lieutenant. He has the ear of many of the city’s most powerful individuals.
But what hasn’t been reported before is that there are currently claims of £8.9 million against Barton relating back to the collapse of a previous business in 2020, including from a government agency who believe they are owed large sums of money. The case has become highly contentious and remains unresolved. Several business owners have questioned to The Dispatch how Barton has achieved such an elevated position given the shadow currently hanging over him.
That’s the topic of today’s Dispatch. The first half of this edition is available to all our readers, but to read the entire story you’ll have to be signed up as a paying member. That’s because everything we do is reader-funded: we need your support to pay for our journalism, legal advice, freelancers, electricity bills, tea and coffee. We believe this model means we can directly serve you, the reader, rather than advertisers. If you like what we do and want to help us on our journey to 1000 paying members, hit the button below.
Brum in brief
🎞️‘Sexy oldie’: Women over the age of 40 are underrepresented in films and advertising, a study by the University of Birmingham Business School has found. Dr Julie Whiteman argues that women are usually portrayed as one of three stereotypes: the desirable young woman, the sexually desirable older woman — dubbed ‘sexy oldie’—, or the asexual older woman. “It will come as no surprise to women young and old that there is a societal double standard when it comes to how we view ageing for men and women,” she said. More details here.
🎸Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: American heavy metal band PANTERA were in Brum recently on their way back from Download festival and took the opportunity to pay homage to Ozzy Osbourne and co on Broad Street. “We couldn’t pass through Birmingham without paying a visit to Black Sabbath Bridge!” the band posted on X, alongside several photos.
🟠Just Stop Oil take Stonehenge: One of two demonstrators who covered Stonehenge in orange powder paint as part of a Just Stop Oil protest is from Birmingham. 73-year-old Rajan Naidu joined Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old student from Oxford, to spray the iconic structure on Wednesday, the day before annual Summer Solstice celebrations began. Wiltshire Police confirmed two people had been arrested on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument and the event has been condemned by Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. In a statement, Just Stop Oil said: “We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.”
🏳️🌈Queer Question Time: Birmingham LGBT continues its tradition of hosting a Queer Question Time for the general election next Wednesday. Head to the Nightingale to grill MP candidates from 7pm. This one is free — you can get your tickets here.
Lawrence Barton is the face of Birmingham’s Gay Village. Not everyone is thrilled
By Jack Walton
For the past few weeks, panic has been spreading throughout Birmingham’s Gay Village. Two companies that operate several of its most frequented venues, including the iconic Nightingale, the self-described “heart of the local gay nightlife and clubbing scene”, are in financial trouble.
The companies in question are GB Holdings Ltd and The Nightingale Ltd, two of many businesses owned by the sprawling Barton family. At the end of May, they each filed something called a Notice of Intention to appoint administrators (a legal step that a company can take to buy time to negotiate with creditors). The venues’ owners have called for calm, but when the news was reported on in the press it sent the rumour mill into overdrive. After all, these are some of the city’s most beloved spots, essential to its gay nightlife scene. “Devastating,” wrote one concerned commenter on X. “If they close we have nothing”.
The Bartons are clearly a highly entrepreneurial family. Collectively, they’ve set up at least 17 companies since 1999, with various combinations of the many siblings serving as owners and/or directors. But the best known by far is Lawrence Barton, who describes himself as “a successful entrepreneur and businessman” on his website.
Lawrence Barton has established himself as something of a face for Birmingham’s gay scene in recent years — though when I put this to one venue owner in the city, they butt in: “yes, he’s the self-appointed face”.
Barton appears to be a successful man. He runs Birmingham Pride, owns or runs three of the most popular venues in the Gay Village (the Nightingale, the Loft and the Village Inn) and holds an eclectic array of political titles to boot: he’s a “night-time economy champion”, a “deputy lord lieutenant”, a “leadership commissioner” to the West Midlands Combined Authority and the chair of Southside Business Improvement District. Between his various roles, he has the ear of a lot of Birmingham’s most influential people. In a photo on his LinkedIn profile, he poses with Prince William.
Barton has said he’s confident the venues can survive. The Birmingham Mail reported that he is “desperate to ensure the iconic venues remain viable”. The Mail also published a statement from his business partner Terence Runcorn, director at the Nightingale and operations chief for GB Holdings Ltd, who said: “The most important thing to say is that no decisions have been made and we are confident that there will be investment coming in to secure the situation. We are upbeat that we are in a good position to secure jobs and venues.”
But behind the scenes, a level of ill feeling has developed towards Barton. It's something that comes up in almost all of the conversations we had with members of the city’s gay community in the wake of the news regarding administrators. While some suggest this ill feeling might involve a little bit of jealousy towards his success, others say it is the way he operates his businesses.
This isn’t the first time the Barton clan have run into trouble. Lawrence’s brother Darren was struck off as a director for 11 years in 2014, but is believed to remain an influence behind the scenes (the last time the relevant information was updated at Companies House, Darren and Lawrence each owned half the shares in GB Holdings).
But far more significant still, is this: the collapse of a previous business in 2020 led to claims of £8.9 million being lodged against the Bartons. Among the claimants are a government body, funded by the taxpayer, who believed Barton owes them a serious amount of money — something he has disputed. Therefore the news that administrators are once again being called in amid financial trouble at one of the Bartons’ businesses has raised some eyebrows; a sense of déjà vu.
When we put our findings to Barton, we received this response from a GB Holdings spokesperson:
“We are unable to comment whilst legal and financial processes are ongoing."
