Site of infamous Hatton Garden raid set to be turned into robbery-themed bar in ‘ghoulish’ plan
The site of the notorious 2015 Hatton Garden heist could be transformed into a robbery-themed bar, under plans submitted to Camden Council that have been branded "ghoulish" by jewellers in the area. Landlord Pearl & Coutts wants to convert the vault beneath Hatton Garden, London's principal jewellery quarter, into an underground venue, but the proposal would require closing E Katz & Co, a jewellery shop founded by Holocaust survivor Emil Katz in 1946, which sits above the site. Its current owner, Emil's 86-year-old son George, has condemned the plans, noting the heist ruined livelihoods and left some victims uninsured.
The 2015 raid, carried out by a gang of elderly burglars dubbed the "Diamond Wheezers", saw £14 million in gems, cash and valuables stolen from safe deposit boxes. Under the new plans, features from the crime scene, including a broken door gate, a drilled hole in the wall and safety deposit boxes, would be preserved as part of the bar's decor, while the shopfront above would be replaced with a stairwell and lift to the basement. Rival trader Henig Diamonds warned the change could erode Hatton Garden's concentration of jewellery businesses, while Camden Council said it would weigh the application, for which public consultation closed on 30 August 2026, against policies protecting the area's jewellery heritage.
- Hatton Garden heist vault site may become a robbery-themed bar
- Plan would shut historic jewellery shop E Katz & Co above it
- Jewellers call the proposal "ghoulish"; council to assess amid backlash
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Hatton Garden was, until relatively recently, best known as the heart of London's diamond and jewellery trade, home to generations of family-run shops. That reputation was overshadowed in 2015, when a gang of elderly burglars broke into the vault beneath the district and stole around £14 million in cash, gems and other valuables from safe deposit boxes, a crime that made global headlines and later inspired films and TV dramatisations.
The site of that heist now sits at the centre of a planning dispute. The landlord wants to turn the vault into a bar decorated with relics from the robbery, but doing so would mean closing E Katz & Co, a jewellery shop above the vault that has traded since 1946 and is still run by the founder's family.
The proposal matters beyond one shop's future, since it touches on how Hatton Garden balances its identity as a working jewellery quarter against redevelopment pressures, and on how a well-known crime scene should be treated once it becomes a piece of local history.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the plan would argue that the landlord has a legitimate right to make commercial use of a vacant, historically significant space, and that a venue drawing on the vault's genuine notoriety is a creative way to preserve a remarkable piece of London history rather than let it fade or be redeveloped anonymously. They might point out that dark or true-crime-themed attractions are common and popular worldwide, that no law prevents repurposing the site, and that a well-run bar could bring footfall and economic activity to the area rather than leaving the vault dormant.
The case against
Opponents would argue that turning the scene of a traumatic crime into entertainment is insensitive to victims who lost savings, family heirlooms and, in some cases, uninsured livelihoods, and that profiting from their misfortune for the sake of novelty décor shows poor judgement regardless of legality. They would also stress the loss of E Katz & Co, a shop with deep family and historical roots founded by a Holocaust survivor, and warn that displacing a long-standing jeweller undermines Hatton Garden's identity as a concentrated jewellery quarter, setting a precedent that could erode the character and trading strength of the district over time.