AN ICONIC Hull music venue, which underwent a £1.2m renovation last year, is now only opening a few times a month.
Tokyo Industries took over the former Tower venue in Anlaby Road in August and hoped to win over the people of Hull.
With rumours circulating about its uncertain future, nightclub bosses have defended the club and say they will continue to open for big events and work closely with local promoters.
However, the new managers have slashed the opening times from three days a week to just once or twice a month and admit Hull is one of the "most difficult" cities they are operating in, with other clubs in Lincoln and York.
Nigel Holliday, the club's business development manager, said: "We have found it hard but we are still dedicated to Hull and have no intention of closing the Tokyo venue here.
"The building is freehold so we don't have to answer to a landlord and don't have massive pressures.
"We have looked at what we can do to move forward and have decided to run it more like an O2 Academy, opening only for big events.
"We want to hear from local promoters and aim to bring back Hull's Roadblock club nights to run alongside our Déjà Vu events."
Mr Holliday said the last night over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend was a "big success" for Tokyo.
The Déjà Vu night saw DJ Todd Terry flown in from New York and more than 1,000 revellers partied until the early hours.
Run by Hull promoter Terry Spamer, the nights are currently the only events planned for Tokyo, with the next being held on Sunday, May 5 – a bank holiday weekend.
Terry said: "My events will continue and we have the next one booked but the bank holiday period is notorious.
"People save their money until the weekends and we don't want to put anything on in between.
"In its heyday, the large venue was rammed every weekend but every club was busy back in the 1980s and mid-1990s.
"We did well over the Christmas period and on Boxing Day, we were the busiest club in Hull but it always drops off in the new year.
"It used to be a few weeks in January, it would be quiet and then it would be back to normal, but now it's hard to build up the momentum again.
"People aren't going out as much as they used to and a lot of cities have monthly venues. We are still committed to putting good artists on."
When it opened in August, the club welcomed some of the biggest names in pop, including DJ and rapper Example.
Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell cut the ribbon at the official opening and more than 130 jobs were created at all levels from bar staff to door supervisors and managerial roles.
Nigel Holliday said: "A lot of the staff have second jobs so it hasn't been a problem and we haven't let anyone go.
"We have given them the option to work at our other venues in York and Lincoln.
"By September and October, we hope to open the club more often and want to continue to bring big nights to the city."
