DUDLEY people still have to cough up nearly a quarter of a million pounds for the failed Brookes Bar and Bistro project.

The council-run bar at Dudley Town Hall closed in August after losses of £387,700 in 18 months following a £1.5m refit.

It has now been revealed interest payments on the cash borrowed to pay for the revamp at the listed Priory Street building will total £240,000.

Councillor Paul Bradley, deputy leader of Dudley Council, said: “The council made a financial commitment to support the opening of Brookes Bar and Bistro. 

“It borrowed funds, which will now be paid back over a 30-year period, and it is expected to cost £240,000 in interest.

“The funding contributed to significant and necessary refurbishment work in that area of the council complex as well as the development of the bar and bistro.

“Despite great customer feedback and everyone’s best efforts, the venue was sadly operating at a loss and the difficult decision to close it was taken earlier this summer.”

The interest payments add to an already long list of costs to borough council taxpayers, which includes £64,000 for a consultant who, according to senior council officers, was employed in December 2023 when they realised the authority lacked the expertise to run the bar.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s Audit and Standards Committee on October 14, Helen Martin, Dudley Council’s director of regeneration and enterprise, said: “We realised it was not in the skill set of people involved, we needed a specialist to come in and help us, all the way through those things were monitored.”

Faye Parrett, Dudley Council’s head of commercial, said: “It was the intention that the expert was only going to be in for a few months, this person was not just a consultant sitting there telling us what to do, they pulled pints, served meals and worked in the kitchen.

“The person also supported us with work at Himley and upskilling the team in commercial approaches to hospitality as well as supporting us when we closed the leisure centre cafes.”

Despite the top officers’ testimony and a response to a freedom of information request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which also confirmed the employment of a consultant at Brookes Bar, there now appears to be some confusion about whether the person existed at all.

During a debate at a full meeting of Dudley Council on October 21, the authority’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Steve Clark, told councillors claims about the consultant were “complete nonsense”.

Cllr Clark said: “There was no consultant paid at all, that was actually the wages of the head barman for two years.”