The Groucho Club has closed its doors following the suspension of its licence pending a criminal investigation, in a severe blow to ArtFarm, the hospitality arm of Swiss art dealership Hauser + Wirth, which bought the Soho membership club for £40m three years ago.

Westminster council suspended the licence for 28 days on Tuesday, following an application from the Metropolitan police “on the grounds that the venue had breached its licensing conditions and had been the scene of a recent serious criminal offence”. No further details of the allegations were made public.

Ellie Jafari, the Groucho’s chief executive, apologised to members, saying: “The club’s licence has been suspended by agreement with Westminster city council and we have made the decision to close the club pending a full hearing before Christmas.”

This week’s closure sparked a gleeful press outpouring of accounts of alcohol- and cocaine-fuelled excess during the Groucho’s heyday in the Nineties and Noughties – much of it salacious, none of it new.

Founded in 1985, the Groucho was an instant hit with a successful young arts crowd that had little interest in the stuffy gentleman’s clubs frequented by the capital’s Establishment. Pop stars, film stars and fashion models all flocked to its Dean Street premises, along with YBAs led by Damien Hirst.

ArtFarm’s restaurants and hotels stretch from Somerset and the Scottish Highlands to Mayfair and Los Angeles. Its 2022 acquisition of the Groucho felt like a logical move for a brand originating in the international art market, reinforcing its connection to the art world.

In March this year, ArtFarm announced the Groucho’s first branch operation, ‘Groucho Bretton’ in Yorkshire, due to open in 2026. A conversion of 18th-century Bretton Hall near Wakefield, it is set in the grounds of Yorkshire Sculpture Park and is scheduled to incorporate both a club and a small hotel open to non-members.

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