Party's over for nightclubs boss

A FORMER motor mechanic who switched careers to create the UK's biggest nightclub operator is to leave the business he founded 22 years ago.

Stephen Thomas, who started Luminar from a site in King's Lynn, Norfolk, currently oversees about 90 large-scale entertainment venues under the brands Oceana, Liquid and Lava & Ignite.

The chief executive will step down from the Luminar board at the end of this month to be replaced by Simon Douglas, former boss of music retailer Zavvi. He has also held management jobs at HMV and Virgin Retail.

Thomas's departure follows a difficult period for the firm, which last month issued a profits warning due to the impact of severe weather. It has also warned of a heavy toll from the recession, with high unemployment among its young customer base.

Thomas was a regional director at Whitbread before setting up Luminar in 1988 and floating the business on the stock market in 1996. He stepped up its growth with the acquisition of 27 venues from Allied Leisure in 1999 and the addition of its then main rival, Northern Leisure, in 2000.

Changes to licensing laws, which increased competition from pubs, prompted Thomas to offload many sites and focus on its large-scale branded venues.

Luminar chairman Alan Jackson said: "Stephen has pioneered many of the modern operating trends now prevalent in the industry. He leaves us a great asset base."