Sex in the 90s: Lap Dance War

Sex in the 90s: Lap Dance War
28 June 2006
Channel 4 Television

Naked spies.
Private eyes.
Council-imposed underpants.

A romp through the dirty war to control American-style striptease in Britain.

The 1990s saw the rise of lap dancing in Britain. Giant corporations opened strip clubs up and down the country, fundamentally changing British attitudes to sex. Lap Dance War tells the behind-the-scenes story of how lap dancing conquered Britain. It reveals the men behind the industry - like Michael J Peter, Peter Stringfellow and Spearmint Rhino's John Gray - and their power struggles to dominate the scene. It is the story of backroom deals, lapdancing spies, and private detectives who re-wrote Britain's rulebook for selling sex forever.

The programme features interviews with Michael J Peter, Peter Stringfellow, Mark Young and David Fierstone. The documentary also includes an interview with Adrian Gatton about his investigations into the lap-dancing wars (follow the links for some of the stories Spearmint Rhino lap-dancing clubs' boss is convicted fraudster, Tale of the Rhino, A gangland killing, lap dancers who are said to sell sex and the criminal past of the man behind the Spearmint Rhino empire, Spearmint Rhino dances to £1.75m.

Consultant: Adrian Gatton
Producer: Pete Sawyer
Director: David Monaghan

Lap Dance War is a film by DMP. Read a transcript of Lap Dance War here.


Adrian Gatton interviewed about the lap-dancing wars that hit London after the arrival of Spearmint Rhino.

Spearmint Rhino dances to £1.75m

Spearmint Rhino dances to £1.75m
By Jonathan Prynn and Adrian Gatton
Evening Standard
14th March, 2003
Club makes profits of £3 a minute..read

Westminster V Larry Flynt

Westminster V Larry Flynt
By Adrian Gatton and Danielle Demetriou
Evening Standard
14th November 2002
Anyone who thought London had reached saturation point in terms of lap-dancing joints had better think again. The biggest porn magnate in the world, Larry Flynt, has declared war by unveiling plans to open his first table-dancing club in Britain next year. ..read

A gangland killing, lap-dancers who are said to sell sex and the criminal past of the man behind the Spearmint Rhino empire

A gangland killing, lap dancers who are said to sell sex and the criminal past of the man behind the Spearmint Rhino empire
Chris Blackhurst and Adrian Gatton
16th September, 2002

A Standard investigation reveals the bizarre background to today's legal battle to strip a lap-dancing club of its licence

On 21 August last year, Stuart Cadwell, boss of Spearmint Rhino UK, the country's biggest chain of lap-dancing clubs, left the company's Tottenham Court Road branch and headed home. It was 2am as he walked to a nearby car park. Suddenly, he was the victim of an attack which was vicious even by the standards of central London's increasingly mean streets at that time in the morning.

Two men came up behind, struck him on the head with a machete and knocked Mr Cadwell to the ground. He somehow fought back but was stabbed at least twice, one blow puncturing a lung. "He managed to crawl about 250 yards back to the club," said Max Clifford, Spearmint Rhino's publicist. Mr Cadwell was lucky: he was rushed to hospital and lived. His assailants made off with just £60.

A year later, nobody has been charged for the crime. Another victim of an unprovoked assault? The police don't think so. They suspect this was no ordinary street robbery, that Mr Cadwell was targeted by associates of a notorious north London crime family in a feud with his company.

Full 2,135-word article available via Evening Standard library (not available online).

Channel 4 News: Spearmint Rhino Investigation

Tale of the Rhino
Special Investigation
Channel 4 News
By Adrian Gatton
9 June, 2002

If you haven't heard of Spearmint Rhino then Max Clifford hasn't been doing his job. Rhino is the high class American strip club that you can trust your husband to, if you believe the hype - and women are invited too.

The chain's enjoyed astonishing success since the first club opened in the UK two years ago. Already there are 6 clubs: 3 in London and the south east, and others in Birmingham, Bournemouth and Harrogate. Another is due to open in Leeds.

But doubts are growing about Rhino and its flamboyant boss John Gray ...

In an exclusive report, Adrian Gatton travels to Los Angeles, home of Spearmint Rhino. He investigates the club's sleazy underbelly and uncovers some surprising facts about the criminal history of its boss, the self-styled strip club tycoon John Gray.
















This film is no longer available to view online at Channel 4 News. Copies can be ordered via the ITN Archive. The shot-list can also be viewed via the archive.

ARCHIVE:
International rights to this film are owned by Hayes-Gatton Productions. To purchase footage from this 12-min film please contact Adrian Gatton. Unbroadcast rushes also available.

Reporter/Producer: Adrian Gatton
Producer/Director: Nick Hayes

'Spearmint Rhino' lap-dancing clubs boss is convicted fraudster

'Spearmint Rhino' lap-dancing clubs boss is convicted fraudster
By Adrian Gatton and Paul Lashmar
Independent on Sunday
17 February 2002
John Gray pretty much has it all. Cars, cash, planes and girls – especially girls. His Spearmint Rhino table dancing empire has made him wealthy. And he plans to have even more, to expand his empire from six clubs to 100. Now those plans are in doubt, after an Independent on Sunday investigation revealed that Mr Gray has not disclosed that he served a jail sentence for fraud.