Plans to turn the Hatton Garden site of the 2015 jewellery heist into a robbery-themed bar have provoked anger from local jewellers, who say the proposal would commercialise a crime that caused lasting financial hardship.
Landlord Pearl & Coutts has applied to Camden Council to convert the underground premises at 88-90 Hatton Garden into a themed drinking venue, with the surviving vault features forming part of the attraction.
The proposals include retaining the drilled hole in the vault wall, the damaged gate and safe-deposit boxes used during the raid. The planning documents also suggest the public could be offered daytime tours of the former crime scene. ([islingtontribune.co.uk](https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/hatton-garden-heist-wine-bar-ghoulish?utm_source=openai))
The scheme would require the closure of E Katz & Co, the family jewellery business above the basement. The shop would be replaced by a stairwell and lift providing access to the proposed bar, while its exterior would continue to look like a retail unit.
George Katz, 86, who runs the business, described the idea as “ghoulish and completely inappropriate”. He said many victims of the 2015 robbery had been left without insurance and suffered serious financial consequences.
“A lot of people lost their livelihoods in the 2015 robbery,” he told the Islington Tribune. “Most people didn’t have insurance as safe deposits are supposed to be rock solid, they are nearly impossible to get into.”
Mr Katz added that he believed one person had taken their own life after their business was ruined, although that claim has not been independently verified.
The E Katz shop was founded in 1946 by Emil Katz, who had fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia seven years earlier with diamonds sewn into his clothing. His son later took over the business, which describes itself as the oldest established jewellery shop in Hatton Garden. ([ekatz.co.uk](https://www.ekatz.co.uk/contact/?utm_source=openai))
Jewellers warn of threat to Hatton Garden heritage
Other businesses have also objected to the plan. Henig Diamonds said approving the application could encourage further conversions and gradually reduce the concentration of jewellery firms in the area.
Simon Loubskey, of Henig Diamonds, said E Katz & Co was a significant part of Hatton Garden’s history and criticised the proposed replacement of the shop and basement workshop with a bar centred on the robbery.
The Camden New Journal reported that the application had attracted more than 100 objections before the consultation closed on 30 August 2026. Local residents and tenants’ associations were among those raising concerns about the effect on the character of the area. ([islingtontribune.co.uk](https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/hatton-garden-heist-wine-bar-ghoulish?utm_source=openai))
The planning documents state that the basement is largely vacant and includes storage space, an existing vault and a small jewellery workshop. They argue that the new venue would bring visitors to Hatton Garden and complement the jewellery trade.
The application also says the landlord had tried to market the space for other uses but received limited interest from the jewellery sector. It argues that fire-safety requirements mean the neighbouring shop would need to be used as an escape route for the basement premises. ([camdennewjournal.co.uk](https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/new-bar-based-on-hatton-garden-job-could-drive-out-oldest-jewellery-shop?utm_source=openai))
A Camden Council spokesperson said the authority would seek to protect existing businesses and noted that Hatton Garden had been an established centre for the jewellery industry since the nineteenth century.
The council said officers would assess the proposal against its development policies while taking public comments into account. No decision on the application had been announced.
The robbery took place over the Easter bank holiday weekend in 2015, when many nearby businesses were closed. The gang entered through a lift shaft and drilled through the vault’s roughly 50cm-thick concrete wall before taking jewellery, cash and other valuables.
Police have recovered £4,467,566.74, but more than £9.5 million worth of property is still missing, according to figures cited in reports on the case. The gang’s alleged mastermind, Brian Reader, died in September 2023, leaving much of the stolen loot unaccounted for.
