How knife-wielding thieves have left a celebrity hotspot cafe £50,000 out of pocket... but not a single one has been caught

Published: 20:22, 7 May 2026 | Updated: 20:25, 7 May 2026 Tucked away on a serene walkway overlooking the River Thames, just a stone's throw from the bustle of Putney High Street, is The Clubhouse.  A café combining the sale of its high-end Raptor Bikes with matcha and pastries, the business has become a haven for cyclists and celebrities. Tennis stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper are just a couple of its high-profile clientele. But in recent months The Clubhouse has been invaded by a new type of visitor - one not so welcome - the balaclava-clad criminal.  Owner Bradley Wright tells the Daily Mail that brazen thieves have swiped more than £50,000 worth of bikes from his shelves since the turn of the year.  Almost all of the crimes have been captured in CCTV footage - though not a single one of the criminals has been caught. 'I think we've probably had 10 thefts in the last few months,' Mr Wright says. 'Petty thieves come all the time. They go past on their e-bikes and nab a bike off the rack or something. We had three of those incidents just last week.  'But recently we've had a few more serious incidents. A couple of months ago we had a woman threatened with a knife after chasing down two thieves who stole her bike right in front of her.  The Clubhouse café in Putney, south London, has suffered more than ten thefts in the space of a few months (A thief is seen snatching a bike from the business on November 30) The criminal is later filmed riding along the River Thames with two bikes worth more than £10,000 resting on his shoulder Situated just a stone's throw from the bustling centre of Putney, The Clubhouse has become a celebrity hotspot since it opened in May 2024 The café combines the sale of its high-end Raptor Bikes with that of matcha and pastries 'We also had a break-in at the end of November, where a guy forced a window open with an angle grinder in the dead of night.  'He nicked the two most expensive bikes in the shop - worth more than £10,000 each - which we weren't insured on. These thieves have always got balaclavas and masks on.' Video footage of the theft on November 30 shows the hooded thief, clad in all black, forcing entry through a window shortly after 2am.  Once inside, he loads two bikes onto his shoulder before riding off along the Thames towards Putney Bridge. Left untouched in the shop were iPads, computers and a host of expensive equipment.  The incident came mere weeks before another criminal, this time donning a grey beanie, also visited The Clubhouse under the cover of darkness.  Footage shows him brazenly taking a sip from a water fountain set up directly outside the café before reaching up and turning away a CCTV camera. The next day another bike worth thousands was taken. 'It's no coincidence,' says bemused owner Mr Wright.  However these crimes are not only being committed after hours and away from the gaze of potential witnesses. No, The Clubhouse has also suffered a series of thefts in broad daylight.  One clip captured in February shows two yobs, one riding an e-bike and the other on foot, snatching a bike as more than 10 customers watch on. Later, in a moment not seen in the CCTV footage, the thieves are said to have threatened a selfless customer, who gave chase, with a knife. Mr Wright recalls: 'A woman chased them for about 100 metres towards a little alleyway. 'When she followed them down there, they stopped, turned around and showed her the knife. She came back and she was pretty shaken up.'  In more shocking footage, criminals wearing cycling helmets are seen blitzing inside the café and shamelessly swiping bikes from shelves as staff watch on helplessly from behind the bar.  In brazen footage, two thieves are spotted snatching a bike before attempting to flee a customer giving chase While in other clips, criminals wearing cycling helmets are seen blitzing inside the café and shamelessly swiping bikes from shelves as staff watch on helplessly from behind the bar One thief, with a balaclava covering his face, was even filmed strolling out of The Clubhouse carrying a bike worth close to £10,000 with one hand One thief, with a balaclava covering his face, is seen strolling out of The Clubhouse carrying a bike worth close to £10,000 with one hand.  Mr Wright says that, incredibly, on that occasion a tracking device attached to the bike was picked up in Bulgaria eight hours later.  The owner continues: 'This has happened more than once. We've had two or three occasions where a guy has come in wearing biking gear, yanked a bike off the stage - a £17,000 bike - and made off.  'Seven or eight hours later and the bike's tracking device revealed that it was being ridden around Bulgaria.  'So it's gone straight on a plane and it's gone. These guys know what they're doing. This was in January, it's absolutely outrageous.'  Mr Wright has reported all of the crimes to the local Metropolitan Police station but, despite also handing over CCTV footage, not a single criminal has been tracked down.  'It's totally lawless,' he says. 'The police have been trying, to be fair to them, but they can't get anything from it. They're not really interested in bike thefts. 'The police station is literally 300 metres away. When we report crimes I want them to just get down here and find the culprits.  'I was told there's an estate across the river in Fulham where a lot of the bikes end up. They get dismantled and sold on for parts - you're never going to see them again.' The Clubhouse served approximately 250,000 customers in 2025 and has become a hugely popular spot with south Londoners since it opened in May 2024. Next month, the café will open a new branch a few miles away in leafy Wimbledon.  If it wasn't for such success, Mr Wright says that such thefts could have sent his  business under.  'We've had to have custom-made stands put in, that's cost thousands. We've had to reshape the inside of the shop, put anti-grinder locks on the floor. It's costing us a fortune,' he says.  'The cost has been well in excess of £50,000. I think it's probably more like £70,000 or £80,000. We're a small business - we only employ 14 or 15 people.  'It's really, really hard with business rates, labour costs and national insurance to make money. We're lucky because we've got a popular business and we've got the bikes to offset that.  'But if you're just a café, there are so many things that can just screw people. This sort of thing could easily be the end of your business. You just can't do anything about it.'   The thefts at The Clubhouse are just a few examples of a crime wave which has been plaguing the streets of London for years.  Some 6,721 bikes were reported stolen to the Metropolitan Police between January and June 2025, a statistic which marked another concerning rise.  Yet during the first half of last year, just 39 people were charged, prosecuted or cautioned. This equated to 0.6 per cent of cases having what the police coin 'a positive outcome' - compared to an 11 per cent chance of winning any prize on the National Lottery. Only a matter of weeks ago, just a couple of miles from The Clubhouse, a cyclist was threatened with a knife while trying to fend off two balaclava-clad thugs ripping a road bike from the top of his Volvo. And, in March, Team GB development cyclist Gabby McHugh, 17, told the Mail she was 'too scared' to cycle the streets of the capital after having more than £15,000 worth of bikes stolen by hooded thieves in Clapham.  A post by @RichmondParkCyclists this week warned riders to 'be aware' of bike jackers in Richmond Park, one of the most popular cyclist spots in Europe, after a series of thefts.  The Clubhouse owner Mr Wright described the crime wave as 'bonkers'.  'People are genuinely saying that they won't go to Richmond Park - that's a Royal Park! The King's park,' he said.  'Richmond Park is one of the most ridden parks in the world. It's absolutely flooded with cyclists. But let's say you're riding around with the lads and you get dropped and you're alone, you're genuinely fearing that some lads could flank you and then rob you. It's bonkers!'  The Daily Mail contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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