Major business news of the month concerns the attitude that the Inland Revenue are taking to the self employed status of dancers. It seems that when the Revenue starts to investigate dancers earnings they often simply disappear and the latest response to this by the tax authorities is to try to hold the club they work at responsible for their outstanding tax.
This method is similar to the position these days in the building trade where a sub contractor has to prove he is paying tax or the main contractor has to deduct tax from the payments made as he becomes liable. The big difference of course is that the exact earnings of a sub contractor on a building site are known whereas the club owner does not know accurately how much each dancer is making. If this policy becomes routine it will make the running a table dancing club as they operate now extremely difficult and a much more expensive and paperwork heavy business.
The 2004 Miss Shoreditch competition was won by Shannon who works at Browns/Griffin and the White Horse closely followed by Czech Kat who also works at the White Horse and at several other places. After 4 years of overseas domination Shannon is actually the first British winner, if you are in London and wish to see her in action { and take it from me it´s well worth the effort} look for her name in the accurate dancers schedule in thewww.browns-griffin.co.uk web site.
Extending it´s hours is the long established Entertease pub The Flags in Chalvey, Slough which now runs to 2 shifts of girls 7 days a week.
The need to be more careful about recruitment these days was emphasised once again with Spearmint Rhino´s massive Extreme club in Birmingham standing accused of recruiting a dancer who was still only 15. On a lighter note the potential perils of attracting celebrities into your club were demonstrated when the tabloid press reported early in the month that twice Oscar nominated actor John Hurt had to be escorted out of Spearmint´s Tottenham Court Road club for being drunk and abusive! Perhaps he was taking his latest role as ageing playboy MP Alan Clark a bit too seriously.
Also extending hours is the White Horse of Shoreditch, as of February it is open all day during the week with 3 shifts of girls providing entertainment between 12.30 and 10pm.
Most tragic news came very early in the month with Graham partner of the popular Entertease dancer Jezz finally losing his long fight against cancer. Graham was well known on the circuit and will be missed by dancers and regular customers alike.
It seems that the DeJaVu takeover of the former FYEO Mayfair club will happen after all, I hear that a deal is now very close to being signed. The former FYEO Southampton club sold late last year has been re-opened under local ownership after a £350,000 refit as “Tusk”.
News of yet another person offering pole dancing lessons in London. This school is operated by ex dancer Bethanie Dee Chalker specialising in small groups and can be contacted via the web site www.poleposition-uk.co.uk .
The pole dancing competition reported in December´s column held at Vamps in Weston Super Mare went ahead successfully and reached a final on February 9th . The competition was covered by local TV company HTV and is to be broadcast during March . The top 3 placed finalists are also set to appear on a C4 makeover show during the summer.
The only striptease venue in Aldershot, home of the British army, Tiffany´s formerly a pub called the Rose and Crown is currently up for sale for £699,950 freehold.
Problems with new license applications as usual. The proposed Chorley club ” Hot Legs” had it´s license application turned down on the 30th of January but looks likely to appeal this decision and will doubtless win if it perceivers . Newcastle´s 3rd club called Privilege in Westmorland road {sister of the club of the same name in Scarborough} had it´s application held up for consultation after the usual stupid objections based on women being assaulted and public order problems {refuted by Police statements in places like Sheffield, Leeds etc} were added to be the local Gay community saying it was in their part of town and would make them feel ” uncomfortable “.
I have heard a rumour that the Fantasy Bar in Manchester one of the UK´s first clubs has shut. Also it seems that Club X in Liverpool has closed and that the future of the Dreamers club there is also under threat due to changes in the buildings ownership. Also while in that city Sugar´s Fantasy Bar are sponsoring Mossley Hill rugby union club this season apparently on the basis of their very regular custom ! Also a 2nd club opened in Preston in November called Excite { web site www.xciteme.com but not much on there yet}, I have only just heard about this one, it does make me wonder how many others open every month with so little fanfare that I don´t spot them.
Wakefield which only got it´s first club in November seems to be turning into a striptease hot spot with a 2nd club called Wildcat opening early in March with all the required council approvals. In addition 2 further applications for clubs are outstanding as reported last month. I also hear on the grapevine that Simon Warr the ex boss of Spearmint in the UK is going to open his own club near the Birmingham NEC.
The Platinum Bar in Bristol has apparently finally reopened, the problem behind it´s unseasonal closure apparently being a collapsed sewer. Also reopening in February after an extensive refurbishment was the Swindon club Foxies.
Tyke
Author: Saxon
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