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From the newspaper archives:
10/8/2006 Business in Reading
Bid for 'classy' lapdancing club
Businessman Michael Norris wants to do his bit for Reading’s city status bid – by opening a new lapdancing club.
Adults-only venue Sugar Lounge hopes to run above the Café du Sport in St Mary’s Butts, subject to council licensing chiefs granting an adult entertainment licence.
If the club gets the green light, up to 100 punters will be able to enjoy the sight of a dozen scantily clad ladies gyrating around a pole seven days a week.
Entrance will cost £5, with a £10 fee for a topless private dance, or £20 for fully nude.
Mr Norris launched the joint venture with Café du Sport after his previous business, the Honeypot in Friar Street, stopped trading five weeks ago when the freehold for the site changed hands.
The partnership will see the sports bar’s upstairs function room, Gravity, refurbished with a pole and private booths and bohemian-style décor.
Mr Norris told the Evening Post: “With the way the town is developing towards city status, it needs a classier venue – Sugar Lounge fits the bill.”
Sugar Lounge will be aimed at the smart/casual market, and while Mr Norris said he hopes to attract the fans and players from Premiership clubs when they come to Reading, football shirts will be banned.
He also said he would consider running ladies-only nights with male dancers.
If all goes to plan Sugar Lounge will open on Friday, September 1. It has applied to stay open until 2.30am. The club will run for 12 months before Mr Norris and the Café du Sport consider their options.
Bill Donne, from Silver Fox Licensing Consultants, submitted the adult entertainment application to Reading Borough Council on Thursday, July 31.
People living nearby have until Monday, August 28, to lodge their comments with the council’s licensing team.
Mr Donne said he did not anticipate any problems with the application, adding: “The exotic dancing is remarkably tasteful. It’s not pornographic – it’s just a bit of fun.”
First printed in: Reading Evening Post