Three strip clubs keep licences despite strong opposition

Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter

Three city-centre strip clubs have been granted permission to operate for another year despite objections from campaigners, residents and the council’s deputy leader.

Dusk till Dawn, For Your Eyes Only and Playhouse Gentlemen’s Club, all on St Mary’s Street in Cardiff, had their sexual entertainment venue licences renewed following a hearing.

Objectors argued that the clubs contributed to the objectification of women and made women and girls feel uncomfortable in the city centre. They also challenged whether the venues remained appropriate given changes to the street’s character.

Cardiff Council deputy leader Cllr Sarah Merry said the clubs contributed to a culture of misogyny and had “no place in Cardiff in the year 2026”.

But Piers Warne, the solicitor representing the three venues, said objectors “offer no evidence that the three clubs create a cumulative problem in the area”.

He described St Mary’s Street as a “hub for hospitality” and the “heart of the nighttime economy in Cardiff”, arguing that its character had not materially changed in the past decade.

Mr Warne said the clubs’ entrances were “discreet” and that people would “miss the doorways if you weren’t looking for them”.

He also outlined safeguards in place at each venue to protect dancers, other staff and customers from harassment and abuse.

Cllr Merry disputed his assessment of the street, saying there was “probably not an area of Cardiff that has changed more over the last 15 years”.

She said many women did not feel safe walking along St Mary’s Street at night.

Another objector, a frequent visitor to Cardiff who gave her name only as Helen, argued that the presence of the clubs on such a prominent street made women and girls uncomfortable.

“A woman’s sense of comfort and freedom in a public space matters in its own right,” she said.

“What type of city centre do we want in our capital city?”

Miz Jakubovic, campaigns lead for the women’s charity Filia, said a majority of women surveyed by the charity in Cardiff opposed the clubs. Women she had spoken to said the venues made them feel “unsafe”.

“Women’s safety is not a moral issue or a political issue,” she said.

Objector Bronwen Davies said the clubs “belong in the dust bin with Page 3 and pin-up calendars”.

Another objector, Kate Owen, said they operated on a “business model founded on sexual commercialisation against women”.

‘Disappointed’

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Ms Jakubovic said: “Obviously, we are disappointed that the renewals were approved but we are really glad for the time [the committee has] taken to listen to women’s experiences in Cardiff city centre and that women’s safety and equality was considered by the chair, the panel and the committee.”

Glenn Nicie, managing director of all three clubs, said: “I think the committee came to the right decision.”

He added that he would be open to strengthening the existing safeguards to further protect dancers and female customers.