The Windmill was taken over by Spearmint Rhino which reopened it under the name Rhino at the Windmill in April
A Soho strip club famous for keeping its doors open throughout the Blitz has applied to renew its licence. The Windmill, which has been open since the 1930s, is also reportedly the first club in the city to have had naked women on stage.
Several locals have objected to the application over concerns around how the venue will be managed and its location – just round the corner from Soho Parish Primary School.
Now known as Rhino at the Windmill, the venue has faced controversy in recent years. In 2018, its licence was removed after concerns were raised that dancers regularly broke the no touching rules.
The strip club was granted a new licence in 2023 and operated on Great Windmill Street until September last year, when it closed amid a dispute with its landlord. Adult entertainment venue chain Spearmint Rhino then reopened the venue under the new name Rhino at the Windmill in April.
RKW Limited, which is a subsidiary of Spearmint Rhino, has now submitted an application to Westminster City Council in order to renew the venue’s sexual entertainment licence. A separate application for a licence variation has also been submitted, due to changes to the internal layout of the venue.
One written objection to the application said: “It is well known that the premises has had a difficult recent history, including licence eviction, compliance issues, regulatory intervention, objections from locals and ongoing financial instability.”
They added: “This raises concerns about whether the site can be properly and reliably managed, as a venue of that nature.”
Another objector pointed out how close the venue was to Soho Parish Primary School, which is just 150 yards away.
They wrote: “It troubles me to think a venue with licensing until 5am will once again be operating in such close proximity to a school.”
“Since the previous establishment closed, the atmosphere on Great Windmill Street has improved significantly and it has once again felt like a safe and pleasant environment for residents and families,” added the objector.
Legal counsel for the applicant, who is represented by PP Keystone Law Ltd, said that they assure residents there will be security and management to ensure the site is well-run. It added that compliance issues were related to when the business was under different management.
Counsel also said that the school was long-standing in an area where there is capacity for a maximum of 25 sexual entertainment venues, one of which is Rhino at the Windmill.
The Windmill was previously operated by Big Country until the closure in September. The operator went into liquidation amid a legal dispute with strip club chain Spearmint Rhino, which became the club landlord in June last year, understands the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
If approved, Rhino at the Windmill will be allowed to continue its current sexual entertainment operations between 9am and 5am from Monday to Saturday.
A decision will be made following a Westminster City Council licensing hearing on Thursday (July 2).
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