Sauna club granted 24-hour weekend alcohol licence

The venue is set to open in the heart of Leeds city centre

A sauna club set to open on one of Leeds' busiest shopping streets has been granted a 24-hour licence to sell alcohol at weekends.

Pipeworks is due to open the venue on Albion Street early next year.

The licence was granted at a meeting of Leeds City Council's licensing sub-committee on Tuesday, despite objections from some nearby retailers.

Piers Warne, representing Pipeworks, which runs a similar club in Glasgow, told the hearing it would be a "discreet premises" and that alcohol sales were "not the main source of income for the business".

The hearing was told nearby retailers felt they were not properly consulted about the new club, with minimal details given on a public notice.

In response to a question about a lack of transparency, Mr Warne said the police and council had been involved in earlier discussions about the licence.

He said: “This is a discreet premises. People need to feel safe and that they can go there without fear and discrimination.”

The venue in Glasgow is described as “Scotland’s best and largest gay sauna club”.

Simon Walton, managing director of Berry’s Jewellers, said the Leeds club would not be in keeping with the city centre, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said that while "fully supportive of the LGBTQ community" Albion Street was "not the right location".

Mr Warne said alcohol sales were not the main source of income for the business, which had a good relationship with the police and council in Glasgow.

He said: “It’s very minimal. The licensed area is very small. Experience shows that incidents of people getting intoxicated are very rare indeed.”

Representing Berry’s Jewellers, Paddy Whur asked about an incident in 2022 at the Glasgow premises where a man died after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.

Pipeworks operations director David Cooper said the man had been in the club for just 12 minutes and was given first aid.

He said: “There was no blame against our venue. All our staff are highly trained.”

Pipeworks was granted a licence to sell alcohol between 11:00 and midnight from Monday to Thursday, and from 11:00 on Friday until midnight on Sunday.

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