Dominatrix who ran BDSM and swingers club exposes what it took to run the sex shop

Vicky Finney has been running Merseyside’s first official swingers club, Townhouse in Tranmere, for 12 years – but says she never planned to be in the adult industry

The dominatrix owner of one of the UK’s longest-standing swingers and BDSM club has offered a glimpse into what it’s like to manage the establishment and has revealed: “It’s much more than just a swingers and BDSM club.”

Vicky Finney revealed she never intended to operate her own swingers club and after 12 years at the helm of Townhouse in Tranmere, she and her husband, Jim, are stepping down and passing control to Sarah and Andy, long-time employees at the club.

Townhouse is widely believed to be Merseyside’s first official swingers club, first opening its doors at 9 Union Street in Merseyside, Liverpool, in 2005. As a frequent patron during the club’s early days and later a barmaid, Vicky seized the chance to take over the club in 2014 with her husband.

The 50-year-old told the ECHO: “When the opportunity came up to buy it, I was like, ‘well I’ve been running the gaff anyway for a little while, let’s give it a go’. And that was it, we took over and never looked back.”

Despite enjoying her tenure at the club, it wasn’t something she had ever planned on doing.

Vicky stated: “Who ever grows up thinking, ‘you know what, I really want to run a swingers club and a BDSM [Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism and Masochism] club?’ Nobody. So these things tend to just happen,” reports the Liverpool Echo.

Over the years, Vicky said she has faced discrimination and misconceptions, as well as the substantial costs associated with running the business. She added: “Running any business at the moment especially, is pretty difficult. I’ve seen it get more difficult over the years. I think running a business at any point, any type of business right now is just tough. And the adult industry is really hard. We’re legal, above board, licensed, we always have been.

“But despite that, there’s lots of barriers in the way and it’s been tough fighting against that discrimination really. Things like your insurance, it’s ridiculous. It went up 333% after COVID. It went from like 300 quid to 1,300 quid a month.

“And things like getting mortgages, mobile phone contracts. As soon as you say adult industry, they don’t want to know. Or lots of zeros get put on top of the cost. Just little things like that which people don’t think about that makes it hard.”

Nevertheless, it’s not just the financial burden of operating the business which proved challenging over the years. Vicky revealed they’ve also had to battle against the public’s harsh judgement of the industry.

She explained: “I think people have a preconceived idea of the sort of person you are to run a venue like this. What kind of slutty person chooses to run a venue like this?

“I think everyone just sees the sex and the sleaze rather than the community and the good that we do. It’s much more than just a swingers and BDSM club. But people just don’t really want to see that and hear that, they just want to see Vic the dominatrix who runs that seedy sex club in Birkenhead and they don’t want to know any more than that.”

While operating the business has brought numerous challenges, she explained they’ve always been able to count on their tight-knit community for support.

Vicky said: “When the going gets tough, it’s our community that’s kept us going really, especially from our LGBTQ+ community. There’s not tons of places on Merseyside where they can go and feel safe.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got gay town in Liverpool which is ace, but there’s a lot of hetero people that go and stag and hen nights, and some of our LGBTQ+ guys just don’t really want to go, so they come to us.

“So it was the community that kept us going through all of that. And so when the going’s got tough and I’m like ‘it shouldn’t be this hard’, it’s the guys that have kept me going. It’s been a privilege because we were one of the very first clubs out there, there’s lots of clubs out there now, and we’re very well respected. People think highly of us, and it took a while to gain that trust and reputation on the scene, so now that we’re there, it feels like a real honour.”

Reflecting on her years managing the venue, Vicky said: “I think legacy is a big big word and I don’t want to seem big-headed saying that, but I feel like we are leaving a legacy behind which is now going to continue on and I always said that Jim and I were caretakers of Townhouse and one day we would pass on the responsibility because Townhouse will never go, it’ll just change.”

Despite stepping back from the day-to-day operations of the club, her focus has now shifted to her podcast, the Padded Cell, while continuing as the venue’s landlord.

Although she’s saddened to bid farewell to managing the club, she expressed delight at finally being able to enjoy the establishment as a punter once more, just as she did years ago when she first began frequenting it. She explained: “I am going to be going back to the club as a customer. I won’t be leaving the scene at all.”

Vicky added: “I’m a dominatrix, I have been for 20 years, so I’ll probably be enjoying that side of things more, putting the leather dress on and being a bit mean again.”