London club FOLD faces closure following licence suspension

London club FOLD has had its licence unexpectedly suspended by Newham Council.

In a post shared to Instagram this morning, the east London venue stated that its “license has been suspended and an immediate shut down of the club, without fair trial, has been imposed”.

FOLD are in the process of appealing the suspension, and hope to maintain operation this weekend, and for all future planned events, 

FOLD opened in August 2018 between Canning Town and Star Lane, establishing itself as a prominent venue for London nightlife thanks to its 24-hour licence, a rarity for UK clubbing. 

Read FOLD’s statement in full below.  

Update: A report shared to Newham Council's website cites an ongoing investigation into allegations of fraud "relating to approximately £200,000 worth of material” in the club.  According to the report, on 22nd October a search warrant was carried out at FOLD. "High value DJ equipment was seized (approx. £200,000) as it is believed to have been purchased with fraudulent funds," the report states.

According to the report, two arrests were made, one of which is the sole director of Artsintheeast Ltd, the premises' licence holder . Both persons were reportedly arrested on "suspicion of conspiracy to commit money laundering".

The National Crime Agency is leading the ongoing investigation.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

We regretfully announce that our license to operate has been suspended by Newham Council. This news has hit us by surprise and extremely hard. Last night, serious accusations were brought to us and the local licensing committee. As a result of such, our license has been suspended and an immediate shut down of the club, without fair trial, has been imposed. We feel extremely blessed to have built a community around FOLD that can’t be compared or replicated. Every single one of you has made FOLD more than just four walls and a sound-system; we all have created a new way of thinking, a way of uniting and more importantly, given a refreshing meaning to the words safe space. This is all thanks to you, our community. We are currently appealing the suspension with the aim to maintain our operation for this weekend and events moving forward. We offer our most sincere apologies to anyone affected by this decision, we can ensure you that we are working as hard as we can to get to the bottom of this, no matter what. You are the reason we are fighting, and are our daily motivation. Stay put, we are not giving up. More information coming soon.

A post shared by FOLD (@fold.ldn) on Nov 13, 2019 at 1:00am PST