Applicant Document Pack for a Licensing Sub Committee Hearing Tuesday 22Nd October 2019
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Joshua Simons & Associates Applicant document pack for a licensing sub committee hearing Tuesday 22nd October 2019. McDonald’s – 83 Eden Street, Kingston KT1 1DJ. This pack has been compiled and issued by Joshua Simons and Associates on behalf of the applicant MJ Restaurants in the matter of a new application for a premises licence for Mc Donalds Kingston 83 Eden Street. Page 1 Index Section Document title Page number/s 1 Witness statement of Mike Smith (for MJ 4-13 Restaurants the applicant). 2 Licensing Impact report by Dave Gair Shield 15-27 Associates 3 Key Differences Table for Quick Service 29-32 Restaurants/Takeaway premises 4 National Rail & tfl Bus Route Maps 34-34 5 Tfl taxi rank booklet (abridged) 36-43 6 Compliance Survey Audit Report Shield Associates 45-48 Page 2 Joshua Simons & Associates Witness statement of Mike Smith Page 3 Witness Statement of Mike Smith Director of MJ Restaurants Ltd -(Premises Licence Holder/Applicant) The application 1. I Mike Smith am the majority shareholder and director of MJ Restaurants Ltd, a franchise company that is authorised to trade as McDonald’s Restaurants. I make this statement in support on my application to apply for a new premises licence for the provision of late night refreshment from 23:00 – 00:00 Sundays to Thursdays and 23:00 – 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. 2. This is an application for a new premises licence. It is proposed to surrender the existing premises licence PL0647 which has the retail sale of alcohol included on the licence if this application is granted favourably. Background and purpose of application 3. The company that holds the franchise is a professional and responsible operator with over eighteen years’ experience of operating McDonald’s franchises. The company currently operate twelve McDonald’s restaurants in London and the South-East. Many of these are in residential areas. Some are in busy town centre locations very similar to Kingston Town Centre and face the same challenges associated with running late night refreshment premises in a town centre where commercial and residential premises adjoin each other. Two of my McDonald’s restaurants, in Surbiton and Catford, operate for 24 hours. They all operate well. That is by design of these restaurants and the organisation and procedures of my company rather than accident. 4. As the franchisee I have a detailed understanding of the premises, its Page 4 operating and security procedures, the local area and methods to deter anti- social behaviour around the premises. The concerns expressed in the objections to this application are also my own concerns. For the good of my business and staff I too wish to avoid anti-social behaviour and drunk people visiting my restaurant – not least because that deters other customers, demoralises staff and so is very bad for business. This, I respectfully suggest, is achieved by proper management of the premises, rather than the somewhat unimaginative approach suggested by the objectors of simply refusing the grant of extended hours. The latter approach prevents me from carrying on a lawful business that provides a service to those who live and work in the vicinity. 5. The reason for this application to extend hours is simple: it will enable us to serve our customers those who are already in Kingston Town Centre (key shift workers and those from other late night premises) better by meeting their demands for the provision of late night refreshment in a controlled and regulated environment in Mc Donald’s Kingston. 6. We are not seeking to attract unruly or drunk people to our restaurant. Experience has shown that customers who wish to use our restaurant during the late night/early morning hours are primarily shift workers and those persons already in Kingston town centre wanting to enjoy a good value meal in a warm, safe and hygienic modern environment. McDonald’s in Kingston provides that option. A good number of our customers work in the emergency services. These include doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, hospital support staff, and police officers. Unsurprisingly, Saturday and Sunday early mornings are the busiest nights for these emergency workers which is why we have focused on these nights. 7. But at present, on Friday and Saturday nights, we have to stop serving them at 00:00hrs. My staff are constantly having to turn away customers who simply do not understand why a McDonald’s that operates well until 00:00hrs cannot be trusted to open until 02:00hrs on a Friday and Saturdays. Page 5 Evidence of safe operation of site during extended hours 8. My confidence in the assertion that this site can operate well and promote the licensing objectives - even if it is permitted to open until 02:00hrs on Friday and Saturday - is not based on conjecture but rather on experience and fact: a) Firstly, I have operated similar McDonald’s restaurants in similar locations to this hour without significant issues. b) Secondly, and most importantly, I have operated to 02:00hrs at the Kingston site over 6 weekends 17, 24 Nov, 9,10, 23, 24 Feb, 9, 10, 23, 24 March 2019 under Temporary Events Notices without a licensing issue occurring during these extended hours. There was no reported increase in crime, disorder, or nuisance issues associated with my restaurant during these trial weekends. The police were aware that we were open late on these nights. This is the best evidence available to demonstrate that this proposal – in the real world – can work well without undermining the licensing objectives. c) A former Chief Inspector of Police, Mr David Gair, who observed two of these extended nights at the Kingston restaurant, has confirmed that – despite the issues raised by Kingston police and Environmental health officer - the reality of the situation is that the venue operates safely and well during the extended hours. 9. Prior to the application being submitted I instructed a firm of licensing consultants to set up a pre application enquiry with two responsible authorities Kingston Metropolitan Police Service and Kingston environmental health services. The idea was to understand the statement of licensing policy and in particular the issue of cumulative impact in relation to the proposal to extend late night refreshment, what issues there could be from extended opening Page 6 hours in relation to crime and disorder and public nuisance. Various meetings were held and the proposal along with a schedule of control measures was assessed prior to being included in this application for a premises licence. I can say that we have followed home office guidance at section 182 to ensure the proposed application does not affect or add to cumulative impact within Kingston Town Centre. Operating measures to promote the licensing objectives 10. Security Personnel –The premise currently has 1 x SIA security personnel on a Friday night and Saturdays mornings evenings and Sunday mornings. I propose to provide 2 SIA guards from 8pm until 15 minutes after the close of the premises within the operating schedule on Friday and Saturdays into Sunday mornings. This SIA provision should enable the entrance and inside of the premises to be visibly secured as well as re-assure customers and Mc Donald’s staff. 11. Street Marshall Staff - In addition to the provision of security personnel I would agree to deploy a street marshal on Fri Sat Sunday mornings outside the front of the premises. Although a street marshal will not provide any security functions they can provide an early warning system if there are issues outside of the premises. A street marshal shall also provide a visual presence to deal with public nuisance issues for example litter, delivery drivers, any loitering from customers. A street marshal will be equipped with a high visibility orange tabard or jacket to define them from SIA security personnel and a body camera for their safety. 12. Staff Safe – This is a system unique to Mc Donald’s Kingston that provides both video and audio monitoring capabilities and is activated by either fixed panic buttons in the restaurant or mobile panic buttons that are worn by managers. The benefits of the system are that it links McDonald’s Kingston to an external monitoring station managed by an alarm response company Page 7 called Positive Response UK Ltd who can intervene in a situation by interacting with a perpetrator via the restaurant’s music system loud speakers to attempt to resolve crime and disorder or public nuisance issues by providing the appropriate warning, advice and instruction to support and protect staff and customers. This system permits the monitoring company to hear what is occurring in the restaurant. The duty manager can also relay information to the operator directly. This enables the security operator at the monitoring centre to speak directly with the duty manager and perpetrator/s. Since its installation StaffSafe™ has been activated once during extended opening timings, and this was only an activation of the anti-social behaviour message and was not used to summon external assistance. I am not aware that this system is adopted by any other quick service takeaways named in the ‘Key Differences Document’ located within Kingston Town Centre. Staffsafe is an effective crime prevention, reduction and intervention system. I am able to confirm that all managers are trained in the use of the Staff Safe system. I can also confirm that the system was not required to be used during any of the temporary event notices. 13. Conflict Management Training –: This is a licensed product provided by MAYBO the UK leader in conflict management training programmes with this course being accredited by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).