Strip club wins licence renewal following fight to stay open

A lapdancing club has had its annual licence renewed – the first since Bristol City Council voted against a proposed ban on sex entertainment venues (SEVs).

Urban Tiger’s application received no objections from campaigners for the first time ever following the licensing committee’s landmark decision in July.

The club, in Broad Quay, is one of a maximum of two SEVs allowed in the city centre under the authority’s existing policy.

The other is its sister venue Central Chambers – both are owned by the Hale family – whose annual licence will be decided on December 8.

City council licensing sub-committee members were told at Urban Tiger’s hearing on Wednesday that the club was run impeccably, the performers were safe and protected and that all arguments against its existence had been proven groundless.

Strippers in Bristol campaigned to protect their workplaces and put a stop to a proposed nil-cap, which was eventually overturned in July – photo: Martin Booth

The club’s barrister Philip Kolvin KC said that since Bristol City Council took over regulating SEVs following a change in the licensing laws in 2010, the authority had rigorously applied its rules and policies.

“The effect has been to cull venues from Bristol which were just not committed to the high standards the city expected,” Kolvin said.

He said this was the 10th time Urban Tiger’s SEV renewal had come before the sub-committee, and the seventh since it was taken over by the Hales, and that members had granted it on each previous occasion despite strong opposition from women’s rights groups.

Kolvin said: “There are two distinguishing features this year – firstly, there are no objections from anyone at all – no public authority, no business, no individual, no agency concerned with safeguarding, nobody.

“Secondly this hearing comes hot on the heels of probably the widest SEV consultation ever conducted in the UK.”

He said the Hales sought not only to comply with regulation but “positively embraced” it because they wanted to maintain the highest standards and protect those who worked and visited their two establishments.

https://twitter.com/afrenchstripper/status/1552637868727828481

Kolvin said one change to the premises this year was to remove its moniker “Gentlemen’s Club”.

He said: “There are more women, couples and gay people coming in, so they did not want that gender exclusivity because it may be taken by women and non-binary customers that they are not welcome here, whereas they are very much welcome here.

“And a number of women take the view that it’s one of the safest venues in Bristol to visit because it’s one place you’re not going to be hit on.”

He said concerns that Urban Tiger caused antisocial behaviour or crime and disorder in the area had also been dispelled and that it actually made the city centre safer with its security staff, CCTV and radio links to the late-night economy.

Kolvin said old accusations that the performers were being harmed or exploited were refuted by the lapdancers themselves who attended previous hearings to say they were safe, looked after and well paid, with some saying the work had helped to fund their law degree or set up a business.

The licence permits “full nude lapdancing, full nude striptease on stage and full nude pole dancing”.

It was renewed until September 16, 2023, which is 12 months after the existing one expired, although the law allows SEVs to continue operating if a renewal hearing has not yet been arranged.

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read next:

• Councillors vote against banning strip clubs in Bristol
• ‘We shouldn’t be treated as second class citizens’
• 86% oppose closure of Bristol’s strip clubs

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