A store operator is seeking permission to sell booze until later in the day in order to help off-set the rising cost of running his business.
Gunaratnam Ketheeswaran wants to extend the licensing hours at the Family Shopper on Whitegate Drive in Blackpool until midnight. A council licensing panel held to determine his application heard this would increase sales per year by an estimated four per cent.
Licensing consultant Mark Marshall, representing Mr Ketheeswaran, said: “All businesses are struggling with costs going up and Mr Ketheeswaran is seeking to go about addressing these concerns in the right way. There has been a fair amount of investment in the premises, it’s high spec and high end.“This area of Talbot ward is far different to areas closer to the town centre. It is a community based store with a loyal customer base.
Increased costs include delivery charges from one supplier being hiked up by £5,000 a year, the hearing was told. The police and the council’s licensing service had objected to the application to increase the licensing hours to 7am until midnight seven days a week, because the premises is within the cumulative impact area.
This means there is already a high concentration of licensed premises in the area, and the applicant must prove any changes will not trigger an increase in anti-social behaviour. Mr Marshall said 71 per cent of licensed premises in the area already had a midnight closing time, including pubs, meaning the impact of one more would be minimal.
Sergeant Nat Cox, of Blackpool Police licensing, said they were obliged to object because the store was within the cumulative impact area. He said: “It could prove itself outstanding enough to divert away from the policy and that’s up to the panel to decide.”
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