Loafer's guide

The Ministry of Sounds 10th birthday
Oh, please! What's next, the MoD's Bar Mitzvah? This is no celebration of a mere governmental department. The Ministry of Sound, or 'Ministry' as it is affectionately known, is a clubbing legend throughout the world. Clubbers will spend 14 & 15 September whooping it up at the south-east London headquarters and paying homage to the original superclub's decade of success.

Hoorah, let's raise a glass! Lucky for you the bar now sells alcohol, but it wasn't always so. In the early days a nice bottle of Evian was all you could imbibe to help your evening go with a swing. The Elephant and Castle venue also won 'Worst Club Toilets', as voted by readers of Mixmag , for four years running. A far cry from the galvanised masterpiece of today.

Aside from improved lavatory facilities, what else is there to recommend it? It's worth practising your semaphore before you head down there, as the mammoth sound system is the envy of clubs all over the world. The line-up for Friday and Saturday nights promises a host of high-profile DJs (or Bo-Selectas) such as Matt Jam Lamont and Norris 'da boss' Windross, alongside live PAs from dance-music luminaries like Alison Limerick. All against the backdrop of a Japanese whorehouse set promising 'unimaginable naughtiness'.

Lovely. Will the Ministry last another 10 years? Yes, if owner James Palumbo has anything to do with it. A former banker, Palumbo has turned an old bus station into a £120 million empire and the former underground scene has gone distinctly corporate. Ministry's record label has sold 15 million albums, there's a magazine and radio stations, and you can even go on holiday - admittedly to Ibiza, and stay in the MoS hotel. Following Palumbo's recent deal with venture capitalists 3i, analysts predict Ministry plc is just around the corner. Maybe it's only a matter of time before Aiya Napa's summer season is sponsored by the Bank of England.

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