‘It’s kicked us while we’re down’ - Stockport tiki bar Tahiti flooded causing £75,000 of damage

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The owners of popular Stockport tiki bar Tahiti are gutted after a burst pipe flooded all four floors of its premises, causing £75,000 worth of damage.

The pipe burst in the early hours of Sunday morning last weekend, and was only discovered after water had been pouring through the whole venue all night.

The water in the bar is still inches deep and was pouring out of the front door, with the fire alarm having been ringing constantly until this afternoon.

Owners had only recently finished a refurbishment of the venue, in which they’d fitted some brand new wooden tiki booths, all of which are now ruined.Wooden flooring, also recently fitted, is also severely damaged.

Director and general manager Andy Golden told the Manchester Evening News: “It was a burst pipe in the loft, and it’s run down from there through the entire bar. All four stories flooded, the function suite, the main bar and a cellar.

“Literally everything’s been damaged, all the tables, all the sound system, all the electrics all ruined.

“We’ve just been through two years of closure. The Covid passes were introduced two days before Mad Friday, and we had our quietest Christmas to date.

“When the passes were scrapped on January 27, we immediately became busy again and the last two weeks were back to pre-Covid levels for the first time. So just as we felt we were getting back up on our feet, this has just kicked us down again, really.”

Golden, who established the bar in 2014, explained that it’s not just regular trade that will be affected.

“Our function room is booked out every week, so we’ve had to return loads of deposits to people,” he added.

“It’s looking like we’re going to be closed until about April. But we’ll try and make it a bit new and exciting,