Croydon club owner of 10 years shut club down over rampant crime in city

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A fear of crime in Croydon is putting people off venturing out to bars and clubs at night, according to a bar owner of 10 years who has given up her business, blaming the decline of the town centre.

In October 2022, Farrah and Roy Seda said goodbye to Dice Bar. The leasehold was put on the market seven months before at £90,000 a year and was taken up by a new owner.

Farrah said: “We closed up due to the fact that the town centre was so bad, nobody was coming into the town centre – we had to make that very difficult decision.

“A lot of venues have shut down, some since Covid, and partly to do with the crime, nobody wants to come out.

“There are so many shops and venues that have closed down that there is nowhere to go. People come into the town centre to eat, then go home.”

Police figures show there were 5,504 crimes recorded in Croydon town centre between January and December in 2022. The most common crime was theft, with 1,545 recorded, followed by violence, with 1,365 crimes recorded.

The bar has now been taken on by new owners, with a post on Facebook promising a new look and “new vibes” after a makeover.

There is no date for the reopening, with the post just promising it is “coming soon”.

The former owner added: “We decided to leave on the basis that the town centre was declining and we were not prepared to go under. Personally, I felt really sad, when we first opened it was booming.”

She added that since Boxpark has opened many revellers head straight there, drawing them away from the high street.

However, Croydon councillor Sean Fitzsimons said that the idea of the town centre being unsafe was more a perception than reality.

He said: “I think sadly there is a lot of criticism of Croydon town centre on social media, some which is driven by people who don’t know the area but pick up stories on the news about Croydon being a dangerous place.”

Cllr Fitzsimons said that over the past 10 years, Crystal Palace had overtaken Croydon town centre as being the borough’s nightlife capital, and thinks South Norwood is on its way to becoming a popular night-time destination, with a range of restaurants, bars and even a micro-pub.

Last month, using a clause in a contract, Croydon council asked the Croydon Partnership, the joint venture combining Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Hammerson, to invest £4m in North End.

The Conservative Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, said the regeneration of the town centre was a “key priority” for him.

Pictured top: Dice Bar in High Street, Croydon (Picture: Google Street View)