Lap dancing clubs stripped of their rights
New legislation could result in strip clubs and sex shops throughout the UK being closed down, leaving landlords in limbo. Richard Heap investigates
The fear of sex comes into this. People think, ’Oh my god, people are taking their clothes off in there.’ So what? More sexual activity happens in a regular nightclub than in a girl club.”
Peter Stringfellow, Britain’s most famous nightclub impresario and owner of Stringfellows, is talking about the “draconian” system of sex establishment licences, which was toughened up on 6 April. Councils across the UK are now consulting on policies to limit the number of “girl clubs” – more commonly known as strip clubs – and sex shops. Some are using the powers to drive out all the operators in an area.
It is this last element that Stringfellow dislikes.
“Any council that says, ’We are not going to have a tableside-dancing club because we don’t like the idea of that’, is morally wrong and should be challenged,” he says.
The London Borough of Hackney is one such council. In December, it is due to close public consultation on a draft policy to crack down on strip clubs and sex shops. Hackney has four strip clubs and one sex shop, but all five could go out of business if the council gets its way.
Stripped away
Changes in the Licensing Act 2003 made it relatively easy for strip clubs to set up because they were treated the same as other entertainment venues.
The government wanted to close this loophole with the Policing and Crime Act 2009, and extended rules for sex establishment licences to include strip clubs. This means that owners of strip clubs and sex shops need to renew the licence every year, for a fee set by the individual council, usually between £3,000 and £9,000.
Councils now set a quota for the number of strip clubs and sex shops they want in their area.
In Hackney, the council wants a “nil policy”. This makes it very difficult for existing operators to get the new licence they need, and would effectively close them down.
This is not just a London issue. Birmingham has 12 strip clubs, but the council is debating whether to set the limit lower than that. If it does, this would force a “beauty parade” between existing operators, in which the council can decide which venues stay in business.
Other councils are setting policies too. On 12 November, Liverpool and Cornwall will decide their own limits. On 19 November, Gateshead will do the same. Manchester wants to bring forward its plan in early 2011.
These decisions will impact on any landlord that has either a strip club or sex shop in one of their properties. Where a council decides to crack down, the owner could be left with an empty property, the burden of business rates and the cost of protecting the property while a new tenant – a rare commodity in the current market – is sought.
But local authorities that do crack down will not have it easy. Strip club owners have threatened to take councils to the European Court of Human Rights. They say the new rules contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.
Under European law, a licence is regarded as property and people have a right to “quiet enjoyment” of it, undisturbed by third parties.
This would apply to the licences granted under the Licensing Act.
Stringfellow thinks it would cost £300,000 to bring such legal action and that this is out of the reach of most strip club operators. He would take such action, but has not had any problems at either of his London clubs, in Covent Garden and Wardour Street.
A more sensible approach is for strip clubs or sex shops and their landlords to work with the council.
“If they say they don’t like you because you’ve got a lurid advert outside your club, then take the damned thing down,” he says. “Give them every reason to allow you to continue as a good operator.”
Stringfellow welcomes the sex establishment licences if they raise the quality of strip club operators. He thinks the Licensing Act loophole allowed bad operators – such as those that
abuse their dancers – to spring up. However, he cautions that councils should not be swayed by any dire warnings of an explosion in the number of strip clubs.
John Specht, UK vice-president of “gentlemen’s club” chain Spearmint Rhino, also welcomes the policy if it helps drive out bad operators. He agrees that clubs should be open with councils about their plans. His problem is the cost of the licences, which in his experience has varied between £3,000 and £7,000 with different councils.
Specht says the new regulation means more opportunities for the larger chains.
“There are a lot of people hitting us up that want to get out of their situations now because maybe they can’t afford it, or don’t want the hassle any more,” he says. “The days of, ’OK, put a girl up on stage, we can do whatever we want,’ are over.”
This month, the company bought a new venue at Belgrave Gate in Leicester. It is now carrying out a £475,000 refurbishment and the club is scheduled to open in early December.
Hackneyed idea
Operators in Hackney are not so lucky. The council says it is bringing in the “nil policy” because that is what the locals want. Councillor Chris Kennedy, chairman of Hackney’s licensing committee, says residents do not want strip clubs or sex shops.
“Previously, people have been against strip clubs opening. Some of the biggest attendances I’ve seen at town hall meetings have been new applications under the old legislation, that have been packed out with residents saying, ’We don’t want this’.”
He argues that existing operators will be able to make their case for why a strip club or sex shop is needed.
“It would be a hard argument to make, but they’re all different and it’s not for me to prejudge what the decision would be for existing premises,” he says.
Operators in Hackney would need to apply for a sex establishment licence by 31 March 2011.
One such operator is Pauline Bristow, who co-owns the White Horse pub “gentlemen’s venue” on Shoreditch High Street with her husband, Jon. They have owned it for 32 years and operated it as a strip venue for 25. She says Hackney council has not raised any problems before and carries out checks on the club regularly. It has tough policies on the dancers.
“We have monitors to see what’s happening and, if we decide [the strippers are] pushing the boundaries, they are told to clean up their act,” she says. “If we see them do it again, then they are given their marching orders.”
Bristow suggests some pub owners and club operators have introduced stripping to avoid going out of business with the pressure from the smoking ban and the recession. She adds that they would consider taking legal action.
“We don’t have police objections or anything like that, and I think the council is trying to run too much of a nanny state,” she says.
Neil Henry, manager at the Rainbow Sports Bar gentlemen’s club further up Shoreditch High Street, claims to have far fewer problems with violence and drunkenness than regular nightclubs.
“I think it chills people out, and if these types of places shut, customers will be going to dodgy places to get it. It’s not a good idea,” he says.
Nor was closure of established clubs the intention of the ministers who passed the act. John Whittingdale, Conservative MP for Maldon and chairman of the select committee on the Licensing Act, explains that one concern about increasing controls on strip clubs was to protect those that had invested in building up their businesses.
“It would seem very unfair to spend a lot of money, and then the rules change and you’re told you’ve got to close down,” he says.
Look at figures
Chris Knight, operations manager of City of London table-dancing club For Your Eyes Only and vice-chairman of the Lap Dancing Association, criticises Hackney’s policy, saying it contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights. There are thought to be more than 300 venues in the UK with strippers, but Knight says only 135 are dedicated strip clubs. They generate £2.1bn a year, he asserts, and pay £60m in tax.
“The government is being very shortsighted with this legislation. They talk about the coffers being empty and cutting services, cutting benefits and cutting child benefits. So why are they producing legislation that will put people out of work? It doesn’t make any sense,” he says.
A typical club employs 50 to 100 staff.Property companies with an existing lease with a strip club or sex shops should be worried too. David Sutcliffe, director in charge of nightclubs at leisure consultant Fleurets, says giving councils and residents more power to object to these operators does weaken their covenant.
And Richard Williams, director at law firm Licensing Legal, says he is expecting “one hell of a fight” in areas where the council wants to wipe out strip clubs and sex shops, or reduce their number. Part of his role involves acting for strip club operators in the north-west.
He believes Birmingham’s plan for a beauty parade of strip clubs could cause problems.
“I can see there are going to be some aggrieved operators who are exceptionally unhappy about the way they’ve been dealt with,” says Williams.
Other lawyers disagree. Robert Botkai, partner and head of property and licensing at law firm Winckworth Sherwood, has acted for residents’ groups and churches in opposing strip clubs and sex shops. He believes the rules have been too lax.
“They can say they do not want one, but they cannot prove it will increase crime and disorder. Generally licences were granted under the 2003 Act. [Sex establishment licences are] certainly an improvement for residents,” says Botkai.
Strip club and sex shop owners are used to their customers getting hot under the collar. Now they know how their punters feel.
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