A company director denied calling a council licensing official a “jobsworth” during an enforcement visit when a takeaway was found trading after 11pm.
Since the licensing visit in November, the Sushi Co, at 65 Western Road, Brighton, has applied for an alcohol licence from 11am to 11pm daily.
It also applied for a late-night refreshment licence so that it could sell hot food and drink for delivery only from 11pm to 3am.
At a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel hearing yesterday (Wednesday 7 January), the Sushi Co’s head of operations Haran Thushiharan said that he had spoken with company director Varanand Sama.
He said that Mr Sama, 41, denied being the person who made the insulting comment to council licensing official Donna Lynsdale during the licensing visit two months ago.
Ms Lynsdale told the panel of three councillors – Ivan Lyons, Ollie Sykes and Alison Thomson – that she visited the Sushi Co’s premises with Sussex Police.
They turned up after 11pm on Friday 7 November in response to reports that the business was trading without a late-night refreshment licence.
The council and police had checked the business’s website and food delivery apps and found a range of opening hours on different sites, with deliveries listed as being available until either 3am or 4am at weekends.
At the time, staff working in the kitchen told officers that they were open until 3am and serving hot food.
A member of staff called his boss, believed to have been Mr Sama, and passed the phone to Ms Lynsdale.
The man on the phone said that he was allowed to provide 20 per cent of his hot food without a licence. This was not the case, she said.
Ms Lynsdale told the licensing panel hearing: “Mr Sama stated he had a number of premises across London and (asked) why was trading in Brighton different.
“I repeated that he could not trade without a late-night licence and I would be sending a warning. Mr Sama called me a jobsworth and then ended the call and I passed the phone back to the staff member.”
Ms Lynsdale told the panel that she did not have confidence in the business management to comply with the proposed licence or any conditions.
Licensing officer Mark Thorogood, from Sussex Police, said that the force could not support the application because it also had concerns about the management’s understanding of licensing requirements.
He said that the man on the phone identified himself as “the owner” – listed at Companies House as Mr Sama.
Mr Thorogood said: “His dismissive approach to the requirements under the Licensing Act raises concerns over compliance to any licence conditions should one be granted.
“He was adamant he was not taking advice given to him by the responsible authorities which makes it hard to engage in and build any reasonable and positive working relationship.”
A warning was issued to the company on Monday 10 November but Mr Thorogood said that no response was received until Tuesday 9 December after the licence application was submitted.
He said that the company had broken promises to update its opening times on all relevant platforms and not to trade after 11pm without a late-night licence.
Mr Thorogood said that yesterday he found opening the takeaway’s hours still advertised until 3am on Google and the Sushi Co’s own website.
After the warning was issued and the licensing application was submitted, police officers found the business open after midnight on Sunday 14 December.
This was just five days after the force was told that the business would not stay open after 11pm. Staff were seen preparing food but told officers that it was going out cold.
On New Year’s Eve, the business was open at 11.20pm and customers were eating. Hot food was still visible on the self-service checkout but staff said that food was going out cold.
Mr Thorogood also said that crime and anti-social behaviour were a concern in Western Road.
In the year to November, police recorded 167 violent crimes, 21 robberies, 13 sexual offences, 84 public order offences and 44 cases of criminal damage within 650ft (200 metres) of the outlet.
The Sushi Co’s head of marketing Jim Hawker apologised for the poor start to the company’s relationship with the police and the council.
Mr Hawker said: “It’s clear that lessons need to be learnt, have been learnt and we have made some big internal changes in our approach as an operator.
“I would have liked to have seen some of those come into effect more strongly in the time this has been flagged.
“But I can only reassure you that we want to continue to work with all stakeholders locally in a positive way.”
He said that the company had operated for more than three years in London and had invested £1 million in its Brighton operation.
Mr Thushiharan said that the company had more than 30 restaurants, most in London, with more opening in the next few months.
He told the panel that the local management in Brighton had changed information about the premises trading hours without permission.
Councillor Lyons asked what changes had been made.
Mr Thushiharan said that the London-based training team had visited weekly and there were regular calls with the Brighton management.
The panel retired to make its decision which should be made public within five working days.
Sama might have very well caused this application to fail. There seems to be a clear lack of business professionalism here, and combined with a poor compliance history, I can’t imagine this will go in their favour.
This guy sounds like a right arrogant muppet. Hope they slap the application down just on principle
This one is a good subject to clarify how things should be, close him down, and let the rest learn from that, makes a difficult job easier without having to explain a lot, I think others who operate in the same manner will self correct, not all but it will reduce the “policing” aspect of such trade premises, the kind that won’t behave.
Looks tacky, should fit in nicely
Licensing is so much needed to deter all forms of crime. An unlicensed business can mean grannies assaulted and cars racing and drifting. “Why did you grape that poor woman?” “because there were two businesses without proper licensing!!!”