A couple who run a ‘small empire’ of convenience stores in Manchester have been given the go-ahead to sell alcohol at their new shop on Monday (12).
According to local reports, Ryan’s Newsagent Ltd – run by retailers Gurinder Singh Sandhu and Monika Pyka – has been granted a premises licence for a shop they acquired in Shaw Heath by Stockport council.
Earlier in February, a town hall panel rejected their application after hearing that the pair had failed to meet their legal obligations at their other stores – including displaying drug paraphernalia and not storing CCTV footage appropriately.
The alcohol licence means the shop will be able to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises between 6am and 11pm every day of the week. Licensing officer Ian O’Donnell told the meeting his team still did not have confidence that the retailer couple could uphold the licensing objectives, including prevention of crime and disorder and the protection of children from harm.
However, Ian Rushton, representing the couple, argued they had demonstrated improvements at their other stores, and the new shop would be a ‘valuable asset to the community’.
He told the panel how the new application featured a ‘detailed and comprehensive set of licensing conditions’ – including a new ‘top of the range’ CCTV system, a ‘Challenge 25’ policy and a refusals book.
Further visits to the couple’s Penny Lane and Mottram Mini-Market stores were made earlier this month. Licensing officers noted an improvement but said there was still cause for concern. O’Donnell accepted that matters had improved – but only after officers had objected to the application and visited the Lincoln Towers store.
“If we hadn’t objected then I’m not convinced there would have been any improvement,” he said. He added that, as officers had been invited to inspect, they would have expected improvements and felt staff had been ‘well coached’.
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