Mayfair members' club loses licence over brawl

A Mayfair private members' club has had its licence revoked following a review triggered by a large fight at the venue.

Fifteen people were involved in the brawl at Duke Street’s Concept Club last month, which saw one man stabbed in his abdomen, according to Westminster City Council.

The central London authority had initially issued a temporary suspension but has since opted for a full revocation, over concerns the venue was failing to uphold its licensing objectives.

The club said it acknowledged the incident was serious, but said it was isolated, and did not arise out of how it was being run.

The venue, which describes itself as a VIP nightclub, opened last October and had a 240-person capacity.

At the licensing hearing held on Monday, the Met Police's legal representative, Armin Solimani, said the force was asking for the licence to be revoked because the licensee, Electshow Ltd, had engaged in "wilful breaches" of conditions, with the fight as a result.

He added officers had been unable to access details including guest lists and till receipts when requested, and described the club’s actions as "obstructive".

“It’s evasive, it’s not clear why they’re refusing to share evidence with the responsible authority, responsible for keeping people safe, responsible for working with the operator to keep Westminster locals safe," he added.

Mr Solimani added the police was told the venue scanned customers’ IDs when they came in and that this constituted forming a membership, a claim he described as "completely unacceptable".

“If that was all it took to be a private members' club, pretty much every club in the West End would be a private members' club.”

At the hearing, the club’s counsel, Sarah Clover, said there had been a lot of "misinformation and inaccuracy" in submissions from the police and other authorities, including regarding the ability for the venue to operate as a nightclub.

She added there was nothing to suggest the police was impeded in their investigation, and described the existing licence as a "Frankenstein’s Monster of add-ons", which was confusing and ambiguous in its application.

Summing up, she said there was not a "clear correlation between breaches of conditions…and an inability to run the premises in a trustworthy and effective manner”.

The police’s request was backed by the licensing authority and the council’s environmental health service, as well as the site’s landlord, Dukeson Properties Ltd.

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