Fire-damaged London clubs may never reopen

The owner of two London venues which were gutted by a massive fire last week has hinted they may not ever reopen.

Over 100 firefighters took 10 hours to control the blaze at The East Room club and Sosho Bar on Tabernacle Street last Thursday (11 March).

They were still there on Friday to prevent flare-ups and declared the building structurally unsafe fearing it was in danger of collapse.

Jonathan Downey, owner of the two venues, said: "I’ve been down there and it’s been completely gutted.

"The fire’s caused millions of pounds of damage, both to the building and to business. The bar’s just been kitted out with some great antique furniture which is all irreplaceable and about £50,000 worth of artwork has been destroyed.

“I’m not sure we will rebuild. Whatever we did, we couldn’t get it back. The place was 100 years old.

“It’s like one of those smart bombs has just landed on my organisation. Sosho was voted Time Out’s best bar in London in 2001 and the East Room was one of the best bars in the world,” he said.

He predicted that the two bars would be closed for at least 18 months.

The source of the fire was believed to be the East Room’s kitchen although an investigation is predicted to take months to establish the true cause.

No one was reportedly injured in the blaze.

Rupert Millar, 16.03.2010