Stringfellows hit by boss’s death

Stringfellows swung to a loss last year following a tough period that was ‘made worse’ by the death of founder Peter Stringfellow.

Sales at the gentlemen’s club in Covent garden, london, plunged 22pc to £5.1m, which it blamed on scaffolding on the adjacent building, saying it obscured the front of the club.

Stringfellows said it was also affected by the closure of its Soho club in 2016 which reduced staff numbers from 118 to 81.

losses came in at just under £53,000 following a £1.6m profit a year earlier.

A Stringfellows spokesman said: ‘As reported by many businesses in hospitality and leisure, 2017 has been a challenging year, made worse by the illness and subsequent death of Peter Stringfellow.’

He died in June aged 77 from lung cancer which he had kept private. nicknamed the King of Clubs, Stringfellow opened the site in Covent garden which he described as the world’s premier gentlemen’s club. Stringfellows expanded across the pond with clubs in new York and florida but ran into huge amounts of debt after the US business struggled against the recession in 1989.