Agenda item

Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, 56 Old Compton Street, London W1D 4UE

18/13165/LIREVP (“The Premises”)

An application had been submitted by the Home Office (Immigration Enforcement), for a review of the premises licence Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, 56 Old Compton Street, London W1D 4UE (the Premises) on the grounds of prevention of crime and disorder.

Officers from Immigration Enforcement had conducted a visit to the Premises on 22 June 2018, and had arrested four subjects who had no right to work in the UK. The first subject was an illegal entrant and was arrested and detained; the second was found to be an overstayer and was arrested and detained; the third was found to be an overstayer and was bailed; and the fourth was found to be working in breach of his conditions and was arrested and detained. In light of the four subjects found working illegally, Home Office Immigration Enforcement wished to seek revocation of the premises licence, which was held by Apogee Enterprises Ltd.  

On 26 October 2018, the lease and business relating to the Premises were sold to Huang Holdings Ltd, and the premises licence subsequently transferred under delegated authority. The Premises were currently undergoing refurbishment.

At the time of the purchase, Huang Holdings Ltd had been unaware of any breach of statutory requirements that related to the Premises or its use or occupation, and did not take over any of the seller’s employees.

The Home Office had now contacted the Licensing Authority to advise that after due consideration of the information provided in relation to the change of ownership of the lease and business, Immigration Enforcement had agreed that it would not be appropriate to proceed with the review and had requested that the application for review should be withdrawn.

Prior to opening the Committee for discussion, the Committee wanted to discuss a preliminary issue and sought clarification from the Legal Advisor regarding the request for withdrawal. The Legal Advisor stated that under the Licensing Act 2003 it was a mandatory requirement to hold a hearing in relation to the review of a premises licence and that any such request to withdraw the application for review should be made directly to the Committee to consider the evidence put forward in that respect.

Decision:

After the Hearing had been formally opened, Brian Anderson (on behalf of the Home Office/Applicant) addressed the Committee and confirmed that the Home Office wished the application for revocation to be withdrawn. 

Ms O’Leary(Counsel, on behalf of the Licensee) addressed the Committee, and confirmed that Huang Holdings Ltd had purchased the Premises as a new business, and had been completely unaware of any breach of statutory requirements that related to the Premises or its use or occupation, and did not take over any of the seller’s employees.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered the request for withdrawal of the application carefully, and had sympathy for the premises licence holder who had experienced many months of uncertainty.  The parties attending the hearing agreed that the process had been unsatisfactory, and that lessons needed to be learned by the Home Office to ensure that immigration enforcement was dealt with in a professional and appropriate way that was fair to all parties. The Committee commented that asking for revocation of a licence was a major and severe step that had to be treated seriously and only as a last resort because the ramifications for the operator potentially losing a premises licence could be significant to his business.

The Committee acknowledged that the facts of the application were not in dispute, and accepted that the purchaser had been unaware of the breach of statutory requirements that had occurred at the Premises. The Committee accordingly had no choice but to accept the request that the application for revocation be withdrawn.