For years, Folies d’Amour has allowed in men aged 21 and over and women aged 18 and over.
‘Over the last couple of years, increasingly I’ve had more complaints along the lines of “my girlfriend is 18 and I’m 18 and you’re letting her in but you’re not letting me in,”,’ said general manager Tony Le Marchant.
‘We’re pre-empting the discrimination law.’
The age difference is rooted in the thinking of the 1980s, he said.
‘When I ran The Golden Monkey from 1983 we were the same then – 21 for guys 18 for girls – and the thinking back then was that a girl of 18 was more mature than a guy of 18.
‘We just found the guys wanted to come in, drink and get drunk, whereas the girls didn’t drink so much back then.
‘They really came in for one or two drinks and danced all night.
Today that has changed.
‘The girls have got really great jobs, great pay.
‘They probably out-drink the lads,’ he said, adding that women tended to drink a lot of shots.
He took the decision that setting a single age for entry was best, and from next Saturday the club will be open from 11pm to those aged 20 and over: ‘We could have put it at 21, but I think that’s a bit high,’ said Mr Le Marchant. ‘People should be mature enough at 20.’
Although social distancing restrictions will no longer be in place, hand sanitiser will be offered and Mr Le Marchant said he does not want people coming into physical contact with each other, so shaking hands, hugging and kissing will be out of order. A female member of staff will be charged with keeping an eye out for people getting too close.
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