Five Things You Might Not Have Known About UK Strip Clubs
Many people who do not work in strip clubs are rarely given a glimpse into what it’s really like to be a stripper. You may see the fantasy, the freedom, the empowerment, the bundles of potential wealth made in one night that can put an average monthly salary to shame. But you don’t see the other side. We don’t let you. May the illusion of a glamorous job never shatter so we can protect our livelihoods. Because that’s really what it comes down to: if we tell the truth about our industry, we are giving direct ammunition to those that want to confiscate our legal work spaces. If we don’t reveal all, things will stay the same or get worse. That’s not the future I want for the industry, I’d like to for us to move forward and see improved working conditions for dancers. So here I go, giving you a glimpse into our world, the system we have to abide by and what it’s really like to work as a stripper.
The following information is from my lived experience as a stripper and knowledge from others in my industry. Note that I cannot speak on behalf of all strippers and all UK clubs. There may be other clubs that have different rules and fall out of the generalisations that I am about to present. This, in itself, is very telling of how much variation there is in the industry in the UK alone.
No experience needed!
You do not need any experience at all to work as a stripper. It is one the easiest jobs in the world to get and you’ll see why clubs aren’t picky later on…Most clubs in the UK require you to do a ‘working audition’, which is essentially a trial shift, mainly to see if you like the job rather than clubs seeing if they like you (again, they rarely really care). The low entry threshold also means you do not need any kind of training for the job and clubs rarely give you any kind of induction or training. Usually when you first start at a club, someone will give you a tour, tell you the prices of dances, list off house rules and then off you go. No showing you how to perform a lap dance nor showing you how to make that sale in the first place. Your success in these spaces are entirely dependent on you, your ability to learn quickly and knowing how to sell yourself as a product.
You have to pay to work
Yes, that’s right. Strippers are not salaried workers. In fact, we have to pay in order to work. Officially, our worker status is self-employed, we are not employed by the club. The house fee (HF)/Floor fee (FF) is the amount a dancer must pay each shift. This fee is essentially for renting club space but is often used as a guise to exploit dancers. The standard amount is around £20, but some can be much higher (the highest I’ve heard of is £200). Some clubs also have a ‘fluctuating’ house fee, where the amount is decided on the night depending on how much dancers have earned. This fee is largely non-negotiable, meaning if dancers have made little to no money, you are still liable to pay the house fee.
The club takes commission on dances
As well as ‘renting the club space’, dancers must also pay a compulsory commission on all lap dances. The average commission rate is 30% (with dancers keeping 70%), however, much higher rates do exist in the industry. So, the average private fully-nude dance costs £20, meaning dancers will take away £14 and the club’s cut is £6. Taking into account average HFs and average commission rates, dancers will not start to generate a profit until they’ve sold at least 2 dances. This doesn’t happen every night, so sometimes, you do walk away with nothing or in minus numbers. While strippers can be quick to show off their stack after a great night’s work, we would never lament on social media about how bad a night has been. Trust me when I say we have all come away empty-handed from a shift. As far as tips are concerned (even if they are a highly rare occurrence in the UK), some clubs will also take commission here too. The upshot of not having a tipping culture here in the UK also means we are not expected to 'tip out' to salaried club staff (bouncers, DJ- if there is one, managers, house mum- if there is one, bar staff), which was normalised in the US.
Free Labour: Stage shows
Most clubs will expect some amount of free labour from dancers, even though dancers have paid to be there and the club takes a cut of their earnings. The most notorious and widely accepted example of free labour is stage shows. Most clubs require dancers to perform at least one stage show per shift. This may be one or two songs per set and is usually required to be topless. The club do not pay dancers for this work. In the UK, stage culture is not a big thing, tipping culture even less so. Therefore, it is rare to get tips on stage, essentially meaning dancers are performing for free. Clubs justify this as dancers having the opportunity to promote and advertise their services, thus increasing chances of selling dances. However, this logic remains to be seen when talking to clients is clearly the most effective way to sell your services. The opportunity to build rapport and a direct, verbal connection with potential buyers often gets interrupted or confiscated by the club in favour of stage shows. Dancers are also made to give half their product away for free, and so many customers no longer see the value in paying for further nude time in a private dance. So you can see why many strippers loathe dancing on stage *cue pole dancer’s screams and cries as they read this, I’m sure*, because we don’t make money this way and is a waste of our time, money and resources. Also note that many clubs promise clients ‘free stage shows’ as a part of their entry free, which usually goes straight into the club’s pocket.
There are other examples of duties dancers must perform without pay. For example, some clubs get away with sending dancers out of the club during work time to promote and flyer. So instead of staying in house and having the opportunity to make money (which they have paid to do), the club forces them out onto the street, usually with security, to solicit potential customers. This example of free labour is less common, as many club’s licensing does not allow for this and it is against the Dancer’s Code of Conduct. This is one of the allegations made against Spearmint Rhino Sheffield’s licensing breaches in 2019 (although that whole thing is another story for another day). Even though it’s less common for this to happen, clubs will find a way around these things. For example, clubs may hire promoters but also justify dancer house fees as covering this expense.
Extra fees & fines
Yep. It doesn’t stop at HFs and commission, there are also extra fees and fines to be paid in some cases. This varies greatly from club to club. Most clubs have a ‘late entry fee’ and an ‘early exit fee’, so dancers must pay extra for coming to work later or wanting to leave early- so much for setting your hours as a supposed self-employed worker. There are long lists of other extra fees, including: too long/too many breaks, unsuitable attire, refusal to perform on stage, refusal to go topless on stage, not fulfilling the minimum required shifts a week. Breaking too many club rules will ultimately lead to termination of contract. It’s pretty sickening how some clubs have created extensive lists and incredibly strict extra fees as a revenue stream.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. The tip of the iceberg into the inner workings of our jobs and a deep dive into the systems we must abide by. It is evident that much of the above is incredibly exploitative. Despite having the title ‘self-employed’ and with it the assumption of freedom, it is abhorrent how much clubs tend to treat dancers as their undervalued employees. However, it isn’t surprising. Clubs often consider us as an expendable work force because there is always a queue of other dancers wanting to work there that will put up with the abuse. Clubs also don’t feel the need to change things because the system is so profitable for them, to the point where clubs use dancers as their source of income over actual clients. Many clubs even go as far as overbooking dancers in order to get more house fees, even if that means some dancers don’t get a chance to make money and as a result can create a hostile and competitive work atmosphere. Think about it, even if a club doesn’t see a single customer all night, but they schedule 15 dancers, they’re already up by £300. We’ve been saying for years now how the UK strip club industry is dying, I think this is mostly due to club’s lack of interest in changing by adapting their spaces or offering new/different services which would better reflect UK culture and the UK market. Instead of changing to create a more equal and mutually beneficial work place, it’s easier and cheaper for clubs to exploit dancers instead of exploring other avenues of income. It’s a pretty great business model for clubs, but not at all ethical for the dancers. I fear this attitude and lack of reaction from clubs will eventually lead to a long, drawn-out death of the industry.
As dancers, we rarely feel we can speak out about unfair working conditions when dancer complicity levels are so high. We don’t really talk about the above stuff! We want to keep our jobs, so we keep quiet and say ‘yes’ to whatever the club demands. This has nothing to do with sex work itself; sex work is not exploitative, but the systems we have to operate in are. We are not victims of sex work, but we do want better working conditions. We do not want clubs to be shut down and therefore we can no longer do the work safely at all, we want reform in these spaces. We do not want our right to work to be stripped from us. We need to keep these spaces open, but demand change from club owners and management. From the inside, it’s hard to know exactly how to go about this. I think that’s why so many yearn for a sex worker-owned strip club. Perhaps we can look to our industry equivalents over-seas for inspiration. For example, protests in the US have led to law reforms where dancers must be paid to work and must not pay a house fee (a rightful shift from self-employed to employed). This, of course, has its own problems, but it is a strong route to consider.
For now, until I have more answers, I guess I’ll keep my head down and get to the grind.