Pub landlady told to serve booze more slowly in licence deal

A London pub landlady has been told to serve her customers more slowly as part of a deal with Westminster Council to help her retain her licence. Staff at the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia have been told they should fully complete every transaction before they move on to the next customer, meaning they would not take a new order while waiting for a pint to settle or while waiting for a credit card to be cleared. Pub industry chiefs have branded the official recommendation “ludicrous and bizarre” while landlady Tracy Bird and her daughter Amber Hunt, who manages the bar, saw takings fall by more than £1,000 when the go-slow came into effect for the first time last Friday.

The condition is not a legal requirement for the pub but has been recommended by council officials following a jokey remark by Ms Hunt at a mediation meeting designed to avoid a review of the licence.  She said: “We are in a quiet street and we have never had any trouble but the pub down the road has had its licence revoked so I decided to set up a meeting with Westminster Council to see if there were things we could address before they decided to review ours. We have lots of people drinking outside and we know Westminster wants to clamp down on that, At the meeting I just said as a joke, maybe we should serve people more slowly so we get fewer people coming.



“It was meant to be sarcastic but they immediately said they thought that would be a good idea and then we got an email saying we should go ahead. We couldn’t believe they were taking it seriously but I feel like we’re stuck between and a rock and a hard place because we don’t want to fall foul of the council and our licence reviewed or revoked. It’s a bit ridiculous. The council don’t like us being busy outside but we are busy because we have really efficient bar staff. They hate the new rule and business is suffering.” The pub is on a cobbled mews and is only open weekdays. Mrs Bird added: “We have never had any complaints from residents about noise, there’s no problem with violence - we’re just a popular local pub.”

Martin Rawlings, of the Britsh Beer and Pub Association, said: “This is an utterly bizarre case. I doubt Westminster Council could impose these ludicrous conditions under our licensing laws, if it tried. We’ve lost a lot of London pubs in recent years, and 100,000 jobs depend on brewing and pubs in the capital. They really could do with a break from this absurd approach.” A spokesman for Westminster Council confirmed the proposal for the slow-paced serving had come up in the mediation meeting and had been taken as a serious suggestion rather than a joke, but said it was not a legal condition of the licence.