Cherwell can confirm that ATIK Oxford is set to close down at the end of June this year. On Saturday 6 April, student club representatives were informed that the nightclub would be shutting down, which was later confirmed by Rekom, the parent operations company of ATIK.
A spokesperson from Rekom told Cherwell: “Unfortunately the landlord has decided that ATIK will close on 30 June.” While it will remain open for Trinity term, the nightclub will have closed its doors before Freshers’ Week 2024. As a result, Oxford colleges will no longer be able to book club nights there and will instead look to alternative locations, such as Bridge and The Varsity Club.
Oxford’s most popular nightclub was rumoured to be closing its doors earlier this year among closures of several other branches across the UK. Rekom has been under financial pressure since the beginning of 2024 and Peter Marks, the Chairman of Rekom UK, accredited this to “the combination of the cost-of-living crisis hitting younger generations and students particularly hard, as well as the rising national living wage.” Rekom sent administrators into many locations, including Oxford, which resulted in the shutting down of six Pryzm and four ATIK sites.
However, the Oxford branch was not under financial pressure and the company previously assured Cherwell that the nightclub would remain open. Instead, ATIK will be closing due to a disagreement with the landlord. Rekom told Cherwell that the landlord plans “to redevelop Cantay House into offices” and although “we offered a number of solutions to enable ATIK to remain open…all of our proposals to continue trading were rejected by the landlord.”
In response to the closure, a spokesperson from Rekom told Cherwell: “We are absolutely distraught for the local community, student market, staff and management, businesses on Park End street that rely on ATIK to support their business and the late night economy as a whole.”
This negative reaction has been echoed by students. An Oxford University student told Cherwell: “ATIK and Park End nights are such a big part of the city and university’s social scene, it’s a real shame to see that go.”
Rekom is still in the process of finding a solution. However, they told Cherwell: “…as it stands we are preparing for the last three months of ATIK Oxford.”
