Licensing Solicitors for Newcastle Upon Tyne

A bit about licensing in Newcastle Upon Tyne…. and an example of how we varied a premises licence to turn a restaurant into a bar.

1. Where are the city’s most vibrant areas located?
2. What unique licensing challenges are in place in Newcastle Upon Tyne
3. How one of our solicitors obtained a premises licence variation for a site located in a special stress area

Newcastle Upon Tyne is a large, vibrant city.

And like many such cities across the UK, has a luminous licensed nightlife to match. In fact according to recent research, it has the 7^th highest concentration of licensed premises in England.

Much of its nighttime economy is driven by the large number of University students in the city, numbering over 50,000 across Newcastle and Northumberland Universities. There there are around another 50,000 students who attend Durham and Teesside Universities – some of whom probably venture into the City for their night out.

Then there is the local population who no doubt enjoy the lively nightlife, too.

It is no wonder that so many major operators such as BrewDog, PopWorld, Wagamama, The Alchemist, and All Bar One have sites across the City, along with numerous independent bars and restaurants.

Where are Newcastle Upon Tyne’s most vibrant areas located?

Licensed premises are predominantly concentrated in several key areas across the city, including:

• Bigg Market
• The Quayside
• Collingwood Street. AKA, The Diamond Strip
• Osborne Road, Jesmond
• Ouseburn Valley
• Grey Street and Dean Street
• Chinatown and Stowell Street
• The Gate

Each of these areas has a different feel and gives visitors and locals a wide variety of experiences to choose from. For instance, people looking for live music often venture to Ouseburn. Whereas those looking for some interactive fun and competitive socialising prefer The Gate, which boasts a casino, escape room, axe throwing and a cinema amongst other activities.

A licensing challenge in the City

From a licensing perspective, Newcastle Upon Tyne offers an interesting challenge to operators.

Like many other cities across England and Wales, the Council has introduced Cumulative Impact Zones, sometimes called CIZ, CIP or special policy areas.

Regardless of the name and location of these areas, the objective broadly remains the same, meaning that the existing level of disorder and/or public nuisance is severe enough to justify not granting any new premises licences, furthermore, later hours and increased capacity for existing premises are more difficult to achieve.

As a side point – but an important one – all licensed premises in England and Wales must operate in accordance with the Licensing Objectives. These are:

• the prevention of crime and disorder;
• public safety;
• the prevention of public nuisance and;
• the protection of children from harm.

What makes licensing in Newcastle Upon Tyne particularly challenging, however, is that it’s licensing decisions are based on two policies.

This means that premises licence applications and premises licence variations need to demonstrate not only that they will not have a negative impact on crime and disorder and public nuisance, but also that there are exceptional circumstances justifying the requested grant.

A leading KC has described this policy as “impenetrable.”

How we secured a premises licence variation in a special stress area

As part of a re-branding effort, national pub and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers sought to convert their Browns restaurant in Newcastle-upon-Tyne into an All Bar One bar.

However, the premises could only sell alcohol with a substantial meal due to the restaurant conditions on the licence, and to clarify, a substantial meal is best seen as food served as the main midday or main evening meal, or as a main course at either such meal. In all likelihood, people eat with cutlery, as bar snacks like crisps aren’t considered substantial. 

The issue of what is and what isn’t a substantial meal was brought to the public’s attention during the Covid 19 pandemic. This was based around the definition of a scoth egg and was covered on the BBC here.

On top of the above, the trading hours of the restaurant were short. Clearly the current premises licence did not fit with an All Bar One bar operation.

Further complicating this legal matter was the location, 51 Grey Street, being in the Council’s special stress area.

Legal value we added:

Solicitor and Partner Lisa Sharkey prepared the application to vary the premises licence and, as expected, received representations (the legal name for objections) from police, environmental health and the licensing authority at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Council.

Lisa convinced the members of the licensing panel that despite the strict Cumulative Impact Policy which was in force and the representations received, the operation would pose no additional issues, and successfully obtained the variation.

Commenting at the time, ex Mitchells & Butlers Operations Director Alex Dawson said:

“The result was applauded throughout the company and allowed the company to invest in the All Bar One brand to protect the long term future of the business. All Bar One has already exceeded its trading expectations. A brilliant result for everyone involved.”

How our licensing solicitors can help:

If you need help or advice for a licensing matter, get in touch with one of our licensing solicitors. They have been helping operators secure licences for 30 years, covering all of England and Wales, including Newcastle Upon Tyne.