Thor's owners buy York bar House of Trembling Madness

The House of Trembling Madness, in Lendal, which has been run by Ian Loftus since 2019, is now in new hands.

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The bar - famed for its craft beer, in the heart of the city centre was previously Robson and Cooper which closed in 2014.

The building was bought by York Conservation Trust and now Richard and Amanda Monaghan, the York couple behind Thor’s and Dusk in nearby New Street have bought the business along with their friend Andrew Lowson, executive director of York Business Improvement District (BID). The Trust continue to own the building.

Amanda and Richard Monaghan with Andrew Lowson (Image: Supplied)

Amanda said the team of employees are staying on and the trio have no immediate plans to change the business.

She said: "We probably started negotiations about a year ago and Ian is continuing to run Trembling Madness in Stonegate.

"Lendal has between 15 and 20 employees and everyone is coming along with us on the journey.

"We are super excited, but nervous because we don't want to change the essence of the place or the offering in any way. 

"The team are so knowledgeable about the beers - they have a lot to teach us.

"I have been friends with Andrew since I was a child and he's always wanted to own a bar, so he can't wait.

"We have no plans to change the offer, it will remain a craft beer specialist and restaurant - we are not making any changes to the already successful menu.

"The team are brilliant - they are all experts in the beers."

Ian Loftus outside his Stonegate business

The couple will continue to run Thor's alongside Dusk with the business having bars in the gardens at Principal York hotel and Parliament Street again this summer.

The Thor’s team has worked on thousands of events up and down the country, including many of the UK’s biggest festivals, such as Wilderness, Download, Leeds Festival, and V-Fest.

Inside House of Trembling Madness in Lendal (Image: Supplied)

Mr Lowson has been BID boss since 2016. The idea of adopting a BID in York was first put forward in autumn 2015 with proposals to charge businesses within the city centre a levy on their business rates, the equivalent of one per cent of their rateable value, to be spent on improving the area over and above work carried out by the council.

The Lendal bar is popular with locals and tourists alike (Image: Supplied)