Council rejects Shoreditch nightclub mogul’s latest bid for new venue

Plans for the former site of Cargo nightclub will have to return to the drawing board. Photograph: Julia Gregory / free for use by LDRS partners

Hackney Council has refused a Shoreditch nightclub mogul’s request to open a new venue, amid fears it would lead to a spike in crime and disorder.

Entrepreneur Shmail Khan had applied to set up a new ‘late-night bar’ on the former premises of club Cargo, which closed in 2021 following police concerns about violence.

The plans saw 100 objections from residents, who claimed it would have a “dreadful impact” on the area.

Police said they “could not fathom” why Mr Khan was once again attempting to open a late night venue at the same site, and told the council he was “incompetent” and a “reckless operator who cannot be trusted”.

But despite Khan’s solicitor protests that this would not be a ‘nightclub’ – and that the Met’s comments about his client were “defamatory”, the council judged that the proposed new bar would negatively impact the local area.

The committee added that “nothing the applicant and their legal representative said gave them confidence” about how the 500-strong venue would operate, and that the local arguments against the bid were “compelling”.

Councillors were also unconvinced Mr Khan would be able to “prevent antisocial behaviour and problems with dispersal late at night”.

Mr Khan, also known as ‘Rocky’, shut Cargo’s doors “forever” in December 2021 after the council withdrew his licence for repeated failure to comply with licensing conditions.

After agreeing to new conditions, the club later reopened as the bar and eatery Viaduct.

However, the premises licence was once again revoked in 2023, following an incident where a man was knocked unconscious on the streets outside, fracturing his skull and jaw and causing a bleed on his brain.

Police said since the closure, crime had fallen “significantly” in the area, and shared their concerns a new venue under Mr Khan’s stewardship would  “revert completely back to Cargo”.

Mr Khan owns several other night spots in the area, including The Shoreditch.