THE Liquid and Envy nightspot at Cardinal Park in Ipswich is to continuing trading while a buyer for the business is sought, it was confirmed today.

Parent company Luminar, which owns 75 venues across the country and employs around 3,000 people, said last week that it would have to file for administration after breaching the terms of its lending arrangements.

Administrators from accountancy firm Ernst & Young have now been appointed, and today announced that 11 loss-making venues, including Brazilia in Bury St Edmunds, are to close.

But the rest of the group’s estate, including the joint Liquid/Envy clubs in Ipswich and Colchester and Project in Norwich, are to remain open, with the administrators optimistic of finding a buyer for the business.

The 11 clubs identified for closure employ nearly 300 people, including 11 full- and part-time roles at Brazilia in Bury.

Joint administrator Alan Hudson said the closures represented “an acceleration” of turnaround plans for the business already drawn up by Luminar’s management, with the clubs in question all having identified as “non-core”.

“The restructured business leaves a core estate of profitable trading clubs that have attracted interest from a number of potential buyers, and Luminar plc’s remaining portfolio of night clubs will continue to trade as a going concern as the administrators seek a buyer for the business,” he said.

““he closures will regrettably result in the redundancy of about 300 full- and part time employees. Employees affected by these closures will be offered appropriate support and advice throughout the redundancy process.”

He added: “The core estate of clubs that were open this weekend delivered excellent trading results over what was a very busy Halloween trading period for the business.

“We would like to thank the management, employees and key suppliers who have provided their support in helping us to ensure that the business continues to trade, and provide us with the best possible opportunity to secure a sale of the business as a going concern.

“To date we have received a large number of enquires in the business as a whole and individual sites, and are actively engaged in discussions with these parties.”

Luminar has suffered amid the financial gloom with its core market of 18- to 24-year-olds having been hit by high levels of youth unemployment. It recorded losses of �198 million in the year to the end of February as sales fell by 19% to �137m.

The English riots in August added to Luminar’s woes by disrupting trading at a number of venues and the group was also recently in the headlines after a 22-year-old student was killed in a crush at its Lava & Ignite club in Northampton.