The Watermark Bar in Leeds will close on January 1st 2025, CLASS can reveal.
The neighbourhood bar, which owner Dariush Afshar Haghighi co-founded in 2018 with Filippos Filippopoulos (who left in 2021), was a bartender favourite in Leeds, garnering loyal support from the trade - and critical acclaim.
It is one of a select group of bars to have received a 9/10 for its opening review in CLASS magazine.
Haghighi told Class: “The reason we’re closing Watermark is a mixture of factors – we’ve struggled to increase business, with the city centre trade dying off and moving to the suburbs.
“Our location has also been hammered with roadworks and 30 industrial bins being parked near the front door – and zero help from the council. Try selling cocktails at £11 with that view.
“The increase in costs for goods and staff has squeezed our profit margins to a whisper and the final nail in the coffin was our short two-year lease not being renewed - the landlord now wants to turn the site into a coffee shop.”
Haghighi added that his ice business – Cool Cats Ice – is going “phenomenally” and that would be his focus for growth before opening another bar. “I might open in the suburbs like everyone else,” he said.