Soho’s famous Groucho Club will reopen but with strict new conditions after an alleged rape at the premises last month.
The private members’ club, frequented by A-list celebrities, was temporarily closed and had its licence suspended after a woman reported being raped there in November.
A 34-year-old man was arrested in Hertfordshire over the alleged incident inside the Dean Street premises and was later released on bail.
Westminster City councillors decided at a meeting on Wednesday that the venue can reopen once it has met conditions agreed with police.
Groucho staff cried as the committee announced its ruling. The club plans to reopen on January 10.
Under stricter new rules, members will only be allowed to bring up to four guests to the venue, and must supervise them at all times, with a requirement for guests’ details to be logged.
The club will be required to enhance monitoring of the club’s toilets, including with CCTV, and to ban and eject any members or guests found sharing a toilet cubicle.
The meeting heard how police brought the review after uncovering breaches of the club’s premises licence at the time of the alleged rape.
These made the police’s work “more difficult, requiring them to invest more time and effort into investigating this incident, tying up resources that could have been used elsewhere,” the hearing was told.
Police also told councillors they had concerns about “other serious matters” in the wake of the alleged attack.
However, details of those “serious matters” were heard behind closed doors.
A lawyer representing the Groucho Club said it was “chastened” to be hauled before councillors, and fully understood the “seriousness” of the allegations.
“This is the first time the club finds itself under review, and it is chastened to be here,” said Phillip Kolvin KC.
“It fully understands the seriousness of the situation and the circumstances which brought it here, and obviously, it is concerned for the victim of this alleged offence.”
The club apologised for “laxity” in its operation, adding: “This isn't a high volume crime club, it's not that sort of thing at all.
“But there's some specific issues which have been identified and which we have tried to respond to.”
Licensing lawyer Gary Grant, representing the Met Police, said: “The police case is those additional or amended conditions … addresses the three issues identified in this case.
“One, proper supervision of the toilet areas, two, proper welfare training and procedures in place and three, to tighten up what were previously lax procedures relating to members and guests and recording precisely who was in the Groucho Club.”
In earlier statements, both Scotland Yard and the club said that staff at the club were not being treated as suspects in the case.
The Groucho is one of London’s most well-known private members’ clubs and has a long association with A-list celebrities.
It has previously counted Noel Gallagher, Rachel Weisz, Lily Allen and Stephen Fry as being among its members.
It was originally set up in 1985 as a more relaxed alternative to traditional gentlemen’s clubs, and current members “should have a creative role within the creative industries and share the club’s maverick spirit”, according to the venue’s website.
A Westminster City council spokesperson said: “Having considered all the evidence presented by Groucho’s management and the Metropolitan Police, the council’s licensing sub-committee has agreed to modify the conditions on the licence and lift the suspension of the club’s licence with immediate effect.
“The committee was satisfied that Groucho’s management had demonstrated significant safety improvements and agreed that sufficient measures are now in place for the venue to operate safely.“This decision means that the club will be allowed to reopen.”
A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “The 34-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of rape on Saturday, 30 November has been bailed until a date in late February.”
