Fabric to re-open following today’s appeal

London institution Fabric is set to re-open following an agreement between the club, Islington council and the Met police. The club originally closed on a temporary basis following two drug-related deaths on the premises. Its licence was later revoked by the council, forcing the venue to shut completely.

Following the council’s decision to revoke Fabric’s licence, members of the public collectively raised over £250,000 to help save the iconic venue. The total soon rose to £320,000, with everyone from Disclosure, to Danny Brown supporting the campaign.

This week outside of court, talks were taking place between all three parties to agree new licensing conditions. A deal has now been signed off by Judge Robin McPhee during today’s appeal hearing.

These new licensing conditions are taken from a “gold standard” document put together by Fabric this month, and include a variety of strict conditions the club must uphold in order to stay open. These include include CCTV, ID scanners, lifetime bans for anyone caught seeking to buy drugs, and under 19s not being allowed in during main events.

According to The Islington Tribunal, Ranjit Bhose said on behalf of Islington council: “We’re satisfied management understand the processes they need to make sure Fabric is safe for young clubbers”

Fabric’s appeal was heard at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court. There’s no word yet on when the venue will re-open.

In a statement, Fabric say:

“We are hugely thankful to be able to confirm the news that we have won our licence back. We owe everything to our supporters. We really would not be here today without your unparalleled support and generosity. So many different people stepped up to put their voices to our cause, artists from all corners of the music community, fellow promoters who have put on huge events from us and clubbers from around the world who all united behind us.

“We’ve even seen people sporting their #savefabric t-shirts on the other side of this planet showing just how big this thing is. So, thank you to all of you. Without the strength of your backing this would not have happened. You saved fabric. We’ll be back with some news about #saveourculture and our next steps when we can.”