Agenda item

Ward CIA* SCZ**	Site Name & Address	Application Type	Licensing Reference No.
Abbey Road NA NA	18 - 22 Finchley Road London NW8 6EB	New Premises Licence	21/01568/LIPN
*Cumulative Impact Area ** Special Consideration Zone

 

FULL DECISION

Premises

18-22 Finchley Road, London NW8 6EB

Applicant

Quick Commerce Limited

Cumulative Impact Area?

N/A

Ward

Abbey Road

Proposed Licensable Activities and Hours

Sale By Retail of Alcohol (Off Sales)

Monday to Sunday: 00:00 hours to 23:59 hours

Hours Premises Are Open to The Public

Monday to Sunday: 00:00 hours to 23:59 hours

Seasonal variations/Non-standard timings:

·       Members of the public will not have access to the premises at any point in time

Representations Received

·       Environmental Health Service (Sally Fabbricatore)

·       Metropolitan Police Service (Reaz Guerra)

Summary of Objections

·       EHS stated that the provision and hours proposed for the Supply of Alcohol may cause an increase in Public Nuisance in the area, noting the hours sought are beyond the core hours

·       MPS stated that it is their belief that if granted the application would undermine the Licensing Objectives, noting that the hours sought exceed Westminster’s Core Hours Policy and there is insufficient detail contained within the operating schedule to promote the licensing objectives.

Summary of Application

This is an application for a new premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”).  The Premises intend to stock convenience goods including alcohol for packaging and delivery to customers’ orders made Online or via an App.

The Premises are not located in the Cumulative Impact Area or the Special Consideration Zone.

Policy Position

Under Policy HRS1, applications for hours outside the core hours will be considered on their merits, subject to other relevant policies, and with particular regard to the matters identified in Policy HRS1.

Under Policy OS1, applications outside the West End Cumulative Zones will generally be granted subject to the matters identified in Policy OS1.

SUBMISSIONS AND REASONS

Mr Kevin Jackaman, Senior Licensing Officer, outlined the application. Representations had been received from Environmental Health Service and the Metropolitan Police. The Premises are situated within the Abbey Road Ward and are not within any area of cumulative impact.

Mr Robert Botkai, on behalf of the applicant, explained that the Applicant trades as “Zapp” which is also the name of the app on which customers can buy goods from.

Mr Botkai submitted there were exceptional circumstances which justified the 24-hour sale of alcohol. Mr Botkai noted Zapp had a hearing yesterday on Great Portland Street where following consultation with local residents the application was amended for alcohol to be sold from 08:00 hours.

Mr Botkai explained whilst there is a shop frontage at the Premises that will not be used by the riders who use electric bikes only, which are virtually silent. The riders will go into a courtyard and sit inside a waiting area with facilities and refreshments and wait there which means there is no loitering anywhere. Mr Botkai noted the Applicant in fact employs the riders, so it is very different from other third-party delivery companies. If a delivery contains alcohol the rider is warned verbally and there is a sticker on the parcel, and the rider then undertakes age verification upon delivery.

Mr Botkai stated the Applicant has communicated with the St Johns Society who represent a large number of residents in the area. They initially had concerns about the impact of a 24-hour licence but following explanation of the operation Mr Botkai stated the St Johns Society was satisfied the 24-hour licence would not cause a disturbance, leading to no representation being made by residents. Mr Botkai noted this is a very different location from Great Portland Street – the Premises is secluded away from residents and he stated there is no way for the operation to disturb residents in that area.

Mr Botkai explained there is no customer access to the Premises. He stated the core hours policy is concerned with customers accessing premises and causing disturbance on the street which is not the case here.

Mr Botkai explained that the Premises sells a wide range of convenience store goods, one of which is alcohol. Riders will deliver within 20 minutes of the order which means the ride radius is only about 6 – 8 minutes. Riders only deliver to customers at their residential or business address which means they do not deliver to open spaces – an important distinction with other delivery companies.

Mr Joe Falter stated that customer experience is at the heart of Zapp. He stated riders are the embodiment of Zapp and they go to great lengths to ensure they are best in class. Mr Falter explained that roughly 5% of riders who apply to work at Zapp are accepted and they go through a detailed screening process – there is a phone interview, a monitored ride, a face-to-face interview and a DBS check. Mr Falter stated this is more or less unique in the industry. Once the interview process is passed riders undergo a fairly rigorous training program that involves online training, classroom learning and is regularly refreshed through face-to-face and online training. This means that Zapp has a rider-fleet that is well-versed and closely monitored in adhering to the Applicant’s strict guidelines. Mr Falter explained the Applicant wants to be great neighbours and noted the Applicant hasn’t had any complaints made against any of their locations.

Mr Botkai noted the Premises has been operating under a TEN for the last 6 days and there have been no issues.

Mr Botkai explained the Applicant had engaged with EHS and this had resulted in a set of agreed conditions. Mr Botkai explained the Applicant had engaged with the Police and he stated he believed conditions were agreed (noting a disagreement about bodycam that he believes was subsequently not requested by the Police due to legal restrictions) but not on the hours.

In response to questions from the Sub Committee:

(a)  Mr Botkai explained that they do not disturb residents when delivering by reference to their ‘mission control’ operations. Riders cannot liaise with customers or ring on doorbells, only mission control. Mr Botkai stated it is a pretty silent operation noting the electric bikes and guidance coming from mission control;

(b)  Mr Botkai explained it is a 24-hour delivery service – alcohol is simply one of the products that a customer can order from their home rather than going out to find late-night licenced premises;

(c)   Mr Botkai confirmed there is no click and collect from the Premises;

(d)  Mr Botkai noted a real distinction between Zapp and other delivery companies is the control Zapp has and the fact that they employ their riders. Those riders have an interest in the business. The people packing the goods and handing them over to the riders know the riders by name, it is not strangers coming in and collecting the goods. Zapp riders are extremely visible. Mr Falter stated the Applicant scoured the area for a location which they truly believed would have no impact on local residents – these locations are very hard to find and in their view the Premises is the only such location in St Johns Wood;

(e)  Mr Botkai explained that riders know they aren’t to deliver to people who are drunk. Furthermore, Mr Botkai explained that if there is a party going on there are plenty of ways to order alcohol from third party delivery companies who are not licenced and do not have to take responsibility for the sale of alcohol – this differs from the Applicant who are in control of the entire process. Mr Falter noted the Applicant has not received any complaints and further explained they run a 24/7 hotline they can be contacted on.

Mr Maxwell Koduah, Environmental Health, stated he had met with the Applicant. Mr Koduah noted the Premises has a limited catchment area because of the 20-minute turnaround time. In relation to public nuisance, this means riders would have superior knowledge of the area which means risk of nuisance becomes minimal over time. Mr Koduah stated the application would have minimal impact on residents.

Mr Koduah stated the only reason he was maintaining his representation is because the application is novel and the hours being sought are well in excess of the core hours. Mr Koduah stated he did not know how the business model would play out in real time. Mr Koduah noted that whilst each application had to be determined on its merits, this would have ramifications going forwards.

PC Reaz Guerra, Metropolitan Police, stated the Police were maintaining their representation on the basis of prevention of public nuisance, protecting children from harm crime and disorder. He noted off-licences in Westminster traditionally operate within core hours. PC Guerra said a 24-hour off-licence delivering alcohol raises concerns for the Police. PC Guerra stated he cannot offer evidence in relation to 24-hour off-licence causing issues as there are none in Westminster.

PC Guerra stated the Police are concerned with the supply of alcohol, particularly for the later hours. Core hours means off-licences close when pubs close – alcohol is only available either at home or late-night venues which typically have additional measures in place. PC Guerra stated people buying alcohol in the early hours are likely to be people already intoxicated. PC Guerra queried whether a delivery driver could tell if a customer was intoxicated and further noted the potential for confrontation between riders and customers.

PC Guerra noted trust has to be placed in the riders to ensure they check ID and refusal of alcohol may lead to confrontation. PC Guerra further stated the Premises could become known and a target for robberies, which also includes the riders and PC Guerra suggested the riders’ safety may be compromised.

PC Guerra explained the bodycam condition had not formally been withdrawn. PC Guerra stated on the balance of probabilities there was a link between crime and disorder and off-sales. PC Guerra asked the Sub-Committee to refuse the application but if they were minded to grant to allow off-sales within core hours only.

Conclusion

The Sub Committee has a duty to consider the application on its individual merits and took into account all of the committee papers, supplementary submissions made by the Applicant and the oral evidence given by all parties during the hearing in its determination of the matter.

The Sub Committee noted that representations had been made by Environmental Health and the Metropolitan Police. No representations had been made by interested parties, and the Sub Committee were mindful of the statement made by the Applicant that, at least in part, the reason for this was consultation with local residents.

The Sub Committee were mindful of the fact that the application was for a novel type of convenience store in Westminster. The Sub Committee noted that the Applicant, unlike other third-party delivery companies, wished to retain full control over the sale process and therefore had a strict employment and training process for riders. The Sub Committee considered that this was a positive business model which would ensure that riders were less likely to create a public nuisance when making deliveries, especially late-night ones.

However, the Sub Committee had to consider whether there were exceptional reasons that warranted granting a 24-hour off-sales licence to the Premises. The Sub Committee noted the strong representation made by the Metropolitan Police that if the Sub Committee were minded to grant the application it should be within core hours. The Sub Committee did consider the Applicant to be a responsible and well-run business but, on balance, the Sub Committee agreed with the Police that there were real risks to the licensing objectives if a 24-hour licence was granted. The Sub Committee noted that allowing 24-hour off-sales would remove safeguards typically found from late-night sales of alcohol and, furthermore, the Sub Committee considered it likely that whilst riders were clearly well-trained, the brief contact between riders and customers would make it more likely that inebriated customers could purchase alcohol. The Sub Committee also considered that this business model may put riders at risk in the event they sought to refuse service to an intoxicated customer. On this basis, the Sub Committee concluded that there were not exceptional reasons to grant a licence for off-sales beyond the core hours and that to do so would undermine the licensing objectives.

Having carefully considered current policies, the committee papers and the submissions made by all of the parties, both orally and in writing, the Committee has decided, after taking into account all of the individual circumstances of this case and the promotion of the four licensing objectives:

1.     To grant permission for the Sale by Retail of Alcohol Off the Premises

Between 08:00 to 23:00 hours Monday to Saturday on Sunday 09:00 to 22:30 hours.

2.     To grant permission for the Hours the Premises are Open to the Public

Monday to Sunday 00:00 to 23:59 hours.

3.     That the Licence is subject to any relevant mandatory conditions.

4.     That the Licence is subject to the following additional conditions imposed by the Committee which are considered appropriate and proportionate to promote the licensing objectives.

CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY THE COMMITTEE AFTER A HEARING

5.     The sale of alcohol from the premises shall be for delivery only by a delivery rider.

6.     The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Westminster Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises are open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of the Police or authorised officer throughout the entire 31-day period.

7.     A staff member from the premises who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the premises at all times when the premises are open. This staff member must be able to provide a Police or authorised council officer copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.

8.     An incident log/register shall be maintained to record all incidents of crime and disorder occurring on delivery of products. This log/register will be available for inspection by a Police Officer or other authorised officer on request.

9.     There shall be no signage or advertisement, or promotional material affixed to the outside of the premises that give any reference to the sale of alcohol taking place at the premises.

10. The premises licence holder will ensure that an age verification policy will apply whereby all delivery riders will be trained to ask any customer to whom alcohol is delivered, who appears to be under the age of 25 years to produce, before being sold alcohol, identification being a passport or photocard driving licence bearing a holographic mark or other form of identification that complies with any mandatory condition that may apply to this licence.

11. All delivery riders shall receive training in age restricted sales.

·       Induction training must be completed and documented prior to the delivery of alcohol by the rider.

·       Refresher/reinforcement training must be completed and documented at intervals of no more than 6 months.

·       Training records will be available for inspection by a Police Officer or other authorised officer on request. Training records will be electronically stored by the licence holder for a period of 12 months.

12. A warning shall be displayed on the digital platform on which an order is placed informing customers that they must be aged 18 or over to make a purchase of alcohol and notifying customers that the rider will carry out age verification on delivery. The customer will be required to declare that he or she is aged 18 or over. If the rider is not satisfied that the customer is aged 18 or over any alcohol in the order will be withheld.

13. All riders shall be trained to record refusals of sales of alcohol in a refusals log/register. The log/register will contain:

·       details of the time and date the refusal was made.

·       the identity of the rider refusing the sale.

·       details of the alcohol the person attempted to purchase.

·       This log/register will be available for inspection by a Police Officer or other authorised officer on request.

14. Delivery of alcohol shall be to a residential address or place of work.

15. Riders will be permitted to collect orders and deliver by pedal bike, electric bike (or other electric vehicle) only.

16. Riders will not be permitted to smoke in the immediate vicinity of the premises.

17. Riders will not be permitted to congregate in the immediate vicinity of the premises.

18. Riders will be instructed not to loiter in the vicinity of residential premises.

19. All waste shall be properly presented and placed out for collection no earlier than 30 minutes before the scheduled collection times.

20. No waste or recyclable materials, including bottles, shall be moved, removed from or placed in outside areas between (23.00) hours and (08.00) hours on the following day.

21. Prominent, clear and legible notices must be displayed at all exits requesting staff and couriers to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and the area quietly.

22. No noise generated on the premises, or by its associated plant or equipment, shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises which gives rise to a nuisance.

23. The premises licence holder shall not sell super-strength beer, lager, cider or spirit mixtures with an alcohol content over 5.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) save for products agreed (email will suffice) with the Police.  This restriction shall not apply in respect of the specialist branded, premium priced products for example craft ales, local or microbrewery specialist products, boxed gifts or national celebratory/commemorative beer, lager or cider.

24. All delivery riders will be employed directly by the licence holder or a group company of the licence holder.

25. All sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only and shall not be consumed on the premises.

26. Deliveries to the premises shall only take place between 07:00 and 23:00 hours save that this restriction does not apply to deliveries of bread and milk.

INFORMATIVE

The Committee noted that the Applicant has a good business model and welcomed this new type of operation.

If problems are experienced, then an application for a Review of the Premises Licence can be made.

This is the Full Decision reached by the Licensing Sub-Committee. This Decision takes immediate effect.

The Licensing Sub-Committee
13 May 2021