Officials at the charity which saved Nottingham's historic Victorian music hall say they had a strong first year and will look to enhance the events on offer in the future.
The Malt Cross bar and cafe in St James's Street , with staff who arrived at the venue to work being turned away.
But the Nottinghamshire YMCA quickly swooped in to save the venue, which CEO Will Wakefield has described as one of the city's treasures, and reopened it just a few months later.
Since taking it on in July, the charity invested into the centre to make improvements and since then it has been backed by the local community.
Mr Wakefield said: "The original trustees were incredibly helpful in ensuring a smooth handover and all the key staff were kept on and renumeration not paid was backdated.
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"Before we put together a strategy we needed to find as much about the business, the staff and the clientele as possible, working to the strengths that were already there and then going from good to great.
"It is now cleaner and there is more attention to detail, focusing on clean glasses, pipes and caring staff."
The Malt Cross looked largely the same inside but opened with a wider range of beers, which included many drinks from independent breweries.
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It has also continued to put on unique events like gin tasting in the caves underneath the listed building, which is the only surviving Victorian Music Hall outside London.
Carol concerts over Christmas also proved extremely popular.
Mr Wakefield said: "The first year end results showed a surplus - and an encouraging surplus.
"Since then there has been a major water burst in St James's Street and a couple of days later something went wrong with our drainage system, which meant closure for two-and-a-half months.
"During that time the staff have done a lot of re-organisation and decoration. The early signs are still good but they are only early signs."
Looking forward, the group responsible for the Malt Cross is keen to capitalise on the success of the last year since the fear of closure hung over the venue.
Bosses have plans for more events, particularly over the Christmas period, and this is an avenue they will look to move down to continue the momentum.
Mr Wakefield added: "We are really confident about the future and have identified its heritage and venue for events potential."