Upmarket Birmingham venue Bar Room Bar has closed its doors five years after its parent group collapsed amid debts of around £25 million.

The pizza and cocktails bar shut after its lease with owners Birmingham Mailbox Management Ltd ran out, it was revealed today.

The closure is the latest in the chequered history of Bar Room Bar, whose Solihull-based parent group collapsed into administration in April 2009, owing a total of nearly £25 million.

It later emerged that one of the top names in Birmingham's financial scene, Allied Irish Bank, had been forced to write off millions of pounds from its balance sheet after becoming caught up in the collapse of the chain.

It was owed £19.5 million by the Solihull company which ran the high-end chain.

But the venue could have a bright new future after Mailbox bosses revealed an unnamed upmarket cocktail bar was set to take over the lease of the site.

Mailbox retail manager David Pardoe said: "The previous operator's lease was up and we have a brand new bar which will be opening soon.

"We are not in a position to announce details just yet but we will be able to do so shortly - the bar is being refurbished.

"It is going to be an upmarket cocktail bar in a great location. We have also got major developments going on here with a brand new Harvey Nichols and a new cinema opening in January."

Bar Room Bar was originally launched as a company in 2007 by entrepreneurs Tony and Ross Sanders.

The £20 million project received massive financial backing from Allied Irish, at the time, the founders boasted of a £4m 'war chest' to be spent on ambitious expansion plans.

But administrators from Zolfo Cooper had to be called in in April 2009 after the firm admitted there were serious cash-flow difficulties.

Three of the chain's 13 bars were closed immediately, with the loss of 50 jobs.

The rest, including the Mailbox outlet, were eventually sold back to their previous owners, the Orchid Group, for a fraction of their buying cost.

A subsequent creditors report showed that Bar Room Bar owed nearly £25 million.

CGI of the interior of the Mailbox redevelopment
CGI of the interior of the Mailbox redevelopment