Hockley Social Club, the popular Birmingham venue known for blending street food with live events, will close at the end of 2025. Digbeth Dining Club say jobs will be redeployed and plans are in motion for future venues. Richard Gullick explores what this means for the city’s cultural spaces and the wider night-time economy.
00:00When Hockley Social Club opened, it was more than a response to a difficult time, it was a reimagining.
00:08A way of doing hospitality differently, centred around local traders, culture and community.
00:14And for five years it worked. Half a million visitors, thousands of performances and a food offering that changed weekly.
00:22It was a blueprint many tried to follow. The team at Digbooth Dining Club says the closure is part of a planned shift.
00:29Still, with so many independent spaces closing in Birmingham, the timing naturally prompts concern.
00:36I think the reality is that with the cost of living crisis, people changing their wants and needs.
00:44I think in the next couple of years it would have been a struggle, but we wanted to do it properly and feel like we've done this place some justice.
00:51And enjoy the next six months rather than being forced to close in the next couple of years.
00:57Digbooth Dining Club said the majority of jobs will be retained across other venues and projects.
01:03That's rare in stories like this and not to be understated, but let's be honest, when a spice like Hockley Social Club closes, you don't just move the furniture.
01:12You lose a shared atmosphere, a familiar place, a rhythm that built up over years.
01:17And when grassroots spices vanish, it takes effort to make sure what comes next isn't just more polished, but less meaningful.
01:25See, we still got our venue down in Longbridge, which is Herbert's Yard, which is doing very well.
01:30We also got a lot of our events and we're looking to open a new venue in the Black Country, as well as some of our tour stuff and the comedy festivals.
01:37So, you know, there's a lot of stuff that we've that we incorporate here that is showcased across the rest of all the whole sort of the Digbooth Dining Club umbrella of events and venues.
01:47And I think, you know, it's it's still look, we're still looking to do that.
01:52It's just obviously won't be here anymore.
01:55What's striking is how Hockley Social Club wasn't built on a big budget or institutional backing.
02:00It emerged from a crisis when the Digbooth Dining Club lost their home and couldn't access support during lockdowns.
02:07They adapted fast. What followed was a cultural success story, but one still held together by the constant graft of the people behind it.
02:16It speaks volumes that even something of this popular, this proven doesn't necessarily guarantee permanence.
02:23The important thing is, is being able to turn on a sixpence.
02:26And I think, you know, that's some of the lessons that we've learned from running street food events is obviously we're always affected by the weather is, you know, we're so used to changing things as quickly as possible and adapting.
02:37It's, that's something that I think, you know, really need to be able to do, especially now in hospitality.
02:43It's, you know, as I said before, you know, people's change, people's wants and changes have gone.
02:49You know, people have less money in their pocket and, you know, obviously costs have gone up.
02:53So, you know, you have to be prepared to make changes and do whatever you can to make it work.
