Lap-dancing is big business, and with the number of new clubs rising rapidly, demand is clearly high. Spearmint Rhino currently has seven UK branches, as does For Your Eyes Only. And there are countless others with multiple locations - Stringfellows, Blue Box, Wildcats, Secrets, Bandit Queen, Majingos...

Add to these hundreds of other licensed independents, and all manner of other strip events, and the marketplace is booming. Any change in the law won't shut these places down - a premises licence has no time limit - but it may curb the expansion of the industry.

The Lap Dancing Association (LDA) was formed as a national trade body for the lap-dancing industry in April 2008, after a year of discussions amongst its now members. Their website describes their remit as: "representing the specific needs and concerns of lap-dancing, table dancing and gentlemen's clubs... Our membership coverage is nationwide and ranges from independent singleton operators to national chains and multi-national operations."

Find out more about the LDA by clicking below to hear an interview with the association's secretary, Kate Nicholls.

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Representing the interests of its members across the country, the LDA has already expressed its opposition to a reclassification of lap-dancing clubs as sex encounter establishments.

Click below to find out why.

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Read the LDA Code of Practice here.

Generally, the industry takes the position that lap-dancing is a legitimate and – if regulated correctly – harmless entertainment business.  Jason Watson runs the Manchester based firm Laptastic, a lap-dancing agency that supplies dancers to clubs and private events across the UK and Europe.

“It’s a business like any other,” he says. “It’s a fun business. The girls can do very well if they work hard and are reliable.” Although he admits that it is an industry in which you have to tread carefully. “I need to check out the places that I send the girls. You need to be cautious sending girls out to certain places as clubs can be run like brothels.”

This acknowledgement of certain darker elements is commonplace and necessary– in what is essentially a sexualised marketplace, there must clearly be safeguards. The lap-dancing industry has grown into what it is today through a certain legitimacy. Watson says his business has grown from a night in a Manchester restaurant to an international agency through the professionalism of his employees, which he is keen to highlight.

“To do well in this industry a girl must look good but also be able to talk to customers, be friendly, and be reliable. Too many clubs just pack in girls for the house fees. Some clubs in could be improved by having less girls on and only taking on the more professional ones. Some club owners will take on almost anybody. But were aiming to provide a service – and it needs to be good service, and it needs to be safe service.”