Spa 1877 Sheffield: Company director resigns and is replaced as Turkish baths reopening plans face delay

The company director of Spa 1877 Ltd, the firm set up to revive the baths, has resigned and been replaced.

The change of leadership throws into doubt plans – announced only last month – to reopen the venue on Victoria Street, just off Glossop Road, as soon as May.

The premises, which was part of the Glossop Road Baths and is said to have the oldest Victorian Turkish baths in the world, has been shut since September 2019 when the then Spa 1877 owner Steve Wilkinson closed the venue suddenly amid a dispute with Sheffield Council over bus gates.

Many customers who hold gift vouchers or had paid deposits for bookings say they have still not received a refund, and the new operators had said they would offer a Turkish bath experience to anyone with a proof of purchase made through the previous operator as a ‘goodwill gesture’.

Companies House documents show Kay Gascoyne, who had been the sole company director of Spa 1877 Ltd, resigned on April 4, and was replaced by John James Morahan, aged 72, who is listed as a director of nine other companies, including Vernon College (Barnsley) Ltd, CBD Supermarket Ltd and Town and Country Holistic Spas and Hotels Ltd.

Ms Gascoyne, it has emerged, was sentenced in 2017 after admitting 11 counts of unfair trading relating to her previous business, Elite Nail and Beauty Academy in Worcester.

A report published by the Worcester News at the time reveals how Kay Turford, as she was then known, then aged 60 and of Crookbarrow Road, Norton, near Worcester, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

It is understood the new operators signed a lease to take over at Spa 1877 in June 2021, with the longhold lease still held by Mr Wilkinson.

After the venue closed, the building was initially put up for sale for £695,000 before going back on the market in 2020 to let with a guide price of £75,000 per year.

Neither Mr Wilkinson nor a spokesman for the new operators would comment about what the latest development means for plans to reopen the venue.