A new tenant has been found to take on an ex-nightclub building which has sat empty for almost a year.

Dartford council members agreed a preferred bidder, known only as ‘Bidder B’ to be the new occupiers of the former ATIK Dartford at a meeting on Thursday (January 23).

The local authority owns the building, in Essex Road, and is now in the process of entering a lease with the new tenant.

Until an agreement is complete, a spokeswoman for the council said it could not comment further or reveal the nature of the business which will be moving in.

ATIK Dartford closed its doors to clubbers for the final time last February as Rekom UK, the firm which operated the venue, called in administrators.

It said due to higher bills and impact of the ongoing cost of living crisis it would be immediately shutting 17 of its sites across the country.

Speaking at the time, the chairman of the nightclub operator, Peter Marks, said: “Following a review of our business, we were unable to reach an agreement with our landlord and have been forced to hand back the lease of ATIK Dartford.

“Sadly, this means the club has closed and our team has been made redundant.”

Days after the beloved venue shut, a group, known as Starbass UK, announced they had entered the empty premises as part of a “Save Our Nightlife” campaign which saw them “squat” inside as part of a “rave uprising”.

In videos plastered across their social media platforms, they claimed to have “acquired” the venue through “squatting loopholes” to highlight the plight of young creatives in the music and entertainment industry.

Barriers were placed in front of the entrance with flags, a blow-up nutcracker and a smiley face sign.

At the time, the council confirmed it was working with administrators to evict the group and the police were also monitoring the situation.

Since then, the building’s lease was put up on the market with London-based commercial property estate agents Jenkins Law who conducted viewings and secured final offers from interested parties.

The former two-storey club went through several name changes over its four-decade history and has been known to generations of clubbers as Scala, Flicks, Air and Breathe and Zens and Library.