Soho's famous Groucho Club closes as it faces licence review

Evening Standard

Soho’s famed Groucho Club has been served with notice of a licence review after allegations that the venue has been associated with “serious crime”. As a result, the club has now temporarily closed.

Transcript

00:00There's a club in Soho called The Groucho and it's known worldwide for its membership

00:04which is mostly writers, actors, journalists, musicians and normally they're known for having

00:09a good time. But today the club has had to temporarily close after Westminster Council

00:14issued it with a licence review. What this means is that the club will be closed until

00:18December the 9th. The exact details of what happened at the moment aren't presently known

00:23but a council spokesman told the Standard, following a request from the Metropolitan

00:27Police and with the agreement of the operator, the council's licensing sub-committee has

00:31decided to suspend The Groucho Club's licence with immediate effect on the basis that the

00:36premises is associated with serious crime. This decision follows reports that a serious

00:41crime may have taken place at the premises in circumstances linked to a breach in the

00:45premises licensing conditions. If that all seems a bit complicated, what it means is

00:49that allegedly a serious crime has taken place on the premises and the council and the Met

00:55Police need to make sure that the club is operating properly to look after its members.

01:00Instances like this aren't unheard of. We've had it at Trish's and also Loosh just this

01:04year alone but it's usually a bit more than someone just misbehaving slightly, drinking

01:10too much, disappearing off to somewhere they shouldn't. More is expected to be heard over

01:14the coming days.

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