Why EHO spells trouble in more ways than one
Life has changed considerably since my last Viewpoint (Caterer, 18 May, page 22), when I wrote about my team's experience of gaining funding from venture capitalists. The funds were secured; the deal was struck; the company, Mustard Entertainment Restaurants, formed, and now I am back doing what I most enjoy - running a hospitality business.
This time, though, it's not a restaurant group, it's Brannigans, a 14-strong chain of late-night venue bars, offering good food, plenty of booze and live entertainment most nights of the week. I have switched suits and ties for jeans and polo shirts; BBC Radio 3 for Capital Radio; and early starts for late finishes. Some things, however, don't change.
Industry stranglehold
Having used this column in the past to talk about over-regulation and how it has a stranglehold on the restaurant industry, I am sorry to say that it is as bad, if not worse, for pubs and clubs.
Ashamed as I am to admit this, there have been times in the past when I have cursed the environmental health officer. I take it all back. EHOs are there to protect the public and if they want to see an extra mop and bucket on the premises before allowing us to open, then far be it from me to argue.
If only the other kind of EHOs - Extended Hours Orders - could be satisfied so easily.
At present, licensees can open their premises for the sale of alcohol between 11am and 11pm, seven days a week. If they want to stay open longer, they must apply to a magistrate for a Supper Hours Certificate or an Extended Hours Order. In the first case, they must insist that customers order food with their beer (try explaining that to visitors from Europe); in the second, they must provide entertainment.
The good burghers of Kensington & Chelsea have been particularly vociferous when it comes to retaining the latter condition.
Their argument is that extended hours of opening increase the noise and nuisance factor and are therefore a bad thing for the neighbourhood. What they don't seem to appreciate is that by keeping the provision of entertainment as a condition of gaining permission for longer opening hours, they encourage publicans and restaurateurs to lay on live bands that will play into the early hours.
Our sites are well removed from residential areas, but I'd suggest they visit a Brannigans and experience the joys of live music before committing themselves so firmly to this argument.
You may wonder why, as an operator of late-night music venues, I am keen to see pubs and restaurants opening longer hours. While you might think this would create greater competition for Brannigans, I see it as clarifying our very different propositions in the eyes of the consumer.
I believe it is far more damaging to have pubs forced into providing entertainment, often of questionable quality, when they are clearly places to meet friends and exchange ideas over a few quiet pints.
Deregulation request
The Government has looked kindly on our industry's request for deregulation in this area, but word has it that the House of Lords may block any immediate change to the law, pending a full-scale review of licensing policy.
Of course, the licensing regulations, covered by the Liquor Licensing Act 1964, need a major overhaul and our leading trade bodies have been campaigning hard for it. It's high time the law recognised the shift in lifestyle and our more cosmopolitan audience. The danger is that if we wait for the total review, we will suffer another two or three years of planning blight.
While I can understand the House of Lords' reluctance to attack the current legislation piecemeal, the reform of Extended Hours Orders is such an obvious gain for the consumer and for the industry that surely, in this instance, they can make an exception.
The Government has said it wants our feedback on its White Paper recommending radical reforms for the licensing act this month. Rather than views from individuals and small groups within the hospitality sector, it is looking for a co-ordinated response.
I am putting my views to Government through the Restaurant Association, Africa House, 64-78 Kingsway, London WC2B 6AH.
If you feel strongly, please make your views known to the RA or your own trade association as soon as possible. We don't want to have to wait two years or more for action to be taken.
Stephen Evans MHCIMA is chief executive of Mustard Entertainment Restaurants, non-executive director of Dineline and a member of the Restaurant Association national committee.
