Sex Shops in Hull

Hull councillors are set to reconsider an application to open a new sex shop at the junction of the Boulevard and Hessle Road in west Hull.

An application by Sheffield-based The Naughty Company was refused by councillors in January supposedly because of the shop's proximity to a special unit for schoolgirl mums.

However, that decision has now been rescinded after company owner Paul Darker complained he had not been invited to speak at the licensing committee meeting or even told by the council when it was taking place.

The same  licensing committee meeting will hear applications for two lap dancing venues. The Fantasy Bar and The Purple Door.

The Fantasy Bar application has attracted one letter of objection. Moralist Mike Brown said:

I don't feel the location is very suitable. It is on a main road in the city centre and is covered by a large amount of public transport. I have no negative moral beliefs towards these establishments ... BUT ... I do not feel this site is right.

A report for the committee says Humberside Police has raised no objections to either application.

Update: Local Monopoly Maintained

16th March 2012. From thisishullandeastriding.co.uk

A sex shop boss says he will open a new shop in Hull after being refused a sex shop licence. Paul Darker said he still planned to open the shop, selling lingerie and adult toys, which do not require a licence.

Licensing councillors refused Darker's application for an empty shop unit in Boulevard after arbitrarily deciding on a limit on the number of sex shops in the Hessle Road area. They decided that the existing licensed Private Shop across Hessle Road was sufficient.

Councillors also scraped the excuses barrel and said opening another sex shop directly opposite a memorial to lost trawlermen on Hessle Road and close to a unit for schoolgirl mums in Boulevard would be tactless .

At the same meeting, councillors granted new-style sex entertainment venue licences for two existing lap-dancing clubs in the city centre. Approval of the licenses for the Purple Door in Dock Street and the Fantasy Bar in George Street came after the committee agreed to set a limit of two venues in the city centre.

Plans to open a sex shop in west Hull have been rejected citing the usual bollox reasons about location.

Sheffield firm The Naughty Company had applied to open the shop in a terrace of shops in the Boulevard, west Hull.

However, licensing councillors unanimously turned down the plans for the shop overlooking Boulevard's junction with Hessle Road supposedly because it is about 200m from a library, close to the fishermen's memorial statue, a council-run Schoolgirl Mums' Unit, and St Wilfred's Church,

Councillor John Abbott spouted: You could not find a more tactless place for such an establishment if you tried.

Aptly named committee chairman Councillor Nadine Fudge said: Some of the remembrance services at the memorial can attract up to 200 people. [Er once a year on a Sunday when maybe the shop would be closed anyway].

For the first time, licensing councillors also based part of their decision on a sex shop licence on the number of similar premises in the immediate area. The Private Shop, the city's longest-established licensed sex shop, is 50m away in Hessle Road. [a reprehensible use of council powers to enforce a local monopoly].

Naughty Company owner Paul Darker said he planned to appeal against the decision. He said I am shocked because I was not even told about the meeting. I would have liked to put my case to the committee in person.

Gwenap adult store in Princes Avenue, west Hull, is instantly recognisable with its black and white facade and cheeky messages.

In fact, the cherished shop was one of the first in the country to sell sexy underwear when it opened in the 1930s.

But after running the store for more than 20 years, owner Jim Starkey has decided to call it a day and is looking for someone with fresh ideas to takeover.

Ideally, he wants it to remain an adult store.
Starkey said: I have had the shop for 22 years and took it on as a bit of a hobby. I would like someone to take over who can do something a little bit different.

For a long while, the store just sold sexy underwear but, about 10 years ago, Starkey introduced sex toys.

He said: I believe this is the oldest sex shop in the country. It started selling sexy underwear in the 1930s. You could say it was pioneering.

Update: Still Up for Sale

27th June 2009. From thisishullandeastriding.co.uk

Jim Starkey said: We've had several people interested in taking over the business and one couple were very interested in carrying it on but they couldn't get the money together.

If a buyer can't be found soon, Gwenap may have to close. What we will probably do is use the name for a website but that's not ideal. The idea of this has upset many local people who regard it as part of the establishment.

Our last lifeline is to find an investor who would like to take Gwenap and capitalise on its long history by taking it into the 'boutique sexy shop' market and possibly invest in a chain of shops under the Gwenap name.