Newcastle's hidden gem No28 begs council for lifeline during wave of bar, cafe and restaurant closures
A popular Newcastle bar has pleaded with city officials to let it stay open later, in an effort to stave off the threat of closure.
Councillors were warned on Wednesday that the award-winning No28, as well as its sister venue Friki Tiki, could be in peril within the next 12 months if a bid for it to extend its daily closing time from 3am to 4am is refused.
There have been a wave of restaurant, bar, and cafe closures in Newcastle this year, with hospitality industry bosses calling for action across the nation amid rising costs – including from business rates, National Insurance contributions, and minimum wage increases.
Well-known spots like Peace and Loaf, Prohibition, the Earl of Pitt Street, and Leila Lily’s are among those to have shut their doors over recent months.
And there are concerns that, in a city famed for its nightlife, more names are at risk of disappearing from the Newcastle social scene.
Members of Newcastle City Council’s licensing sub-committee heard this week that retaining late-night patrons at No28 for an extra hour would help keep it “viable as a business” and that rejecting the venue’s application would jeopardise its future, as well as that of neighbouring Friki Tiki.
No28 is considered as a “hidden gem”, tucked away on the first floor of the Grainger Market on Nelson Street.
Owner Paul Skevington told Wednesday’s committee meeting that it had developed into a popular spot for Sunday lunches and as a bar for city centre workers finishing their shifts late at night, but that escalating costs now meant that “the same money just isn’t there when the big bills come in”.
Barrister Thomas Parsons-Munn argued that a “relatively small” extension to its licence would not cause major problems in the city centre and could instead result in “better late night management and public safety”, with patrons staying at No28 rather than being forced to leave at 3am and head to nearby bars or clubs that are still open.
Despite the bar offering a condition of last entry at 3am, both Northumbria Police and Newcastle City Council’s licensing boss opposed the application, which they said did not meet the “exceptional” circumstances required to allow for the 4am extension.
Sgt Julie Cottiss told the committee that she sympathised with the financial circumstances facing the business, but that an extra hour of alcohol sales would simply result in more drunken people who could become a victim or perpetrator of crime.
She said: “Unfortunately we have to look from a crime and disorder point of view. The application is not offering anything new. It is seeking to extend the sale of alcohol and licensable activities for a further hour. To do so, in the eyes of the police, will increase levels of intoxication.”
Mr Parsons-Munn said No28 and Friki Tiki are “the types of licensed premises that the city wants or ought to be encouraging” rather than seeing go under, adding: “If that does not amount to exceptional circumstances, I am struggling to see what does.”
The committee will issue its decision on the licensing application within five working days.
For the latest public notices from your area, please visit: https://publicnoticeportal.uk/