Agenda item - Reign (formerly known as Rah Rah Rooms), 215-217 Piccadilly, W1

Reign (formerly known as Rah Rah Rooms), 215-217 Piccadilly, W1

Meeting of Licensing Sub-Committee (6), Thursday 7th December, 2017 10.00 am (Item 5.)

App

Ward / Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

St James’s Ward / not in cumulative impact area

Reign (formerly known as Rah Rah Rooms), 215-217 Piccadilly, W1

Premises Licence Variation

17/11198/LIPV

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 6

Thursday 7th December 2017

Membership: Councillor Melvyn Caplan (Chairman), Councillor Susie Burbridge and Councillor Shamim Talukder.

Legal Adviser: Barry Panto

Policy Adviser: Chris Wroe

Committee Officer: Tristan Fieldsend

Presenting Officer: Daisy Gadd

Relevant Representations: One Local Resident.

Present: Mr Philip Kolvin QC (Representing the Applicant), Ms Lana Tricker (Solicitor, representing the Applicant Company), Mr Scott Chester (Company Director, Applicant Company), Mr John Common (Designated Premises Supervisor, Applicant Company) and Mr David Diaz (General Manager, Applicant Company).

Reign (Formerly known as Rah Rah Rooms), 215-217 Piccadilly, W1 (“The Premises”)

17/11198/LIPV

Conditions being varied, added or removed

Condition 55

There shall be no entry or re-entry (excluding persons from the smoking area) to the premises after 00:30 or such time as agreed in writing by the Westminster Police Licensing Unit (and a copy of any agreement to be held at reception).

Proposed Variation

There shall be no entry or re-entry (excluding persons from the smoking area) to the premises after 01:30 or such time as agreed in writing by the Westminster Police Licensing Unit (and a copy of any agreement to be held at reception).

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

None.

Decision (including reasons if different from those set out in report):

The Sub-Committee considered an application by Strongarm Holdings Ltd for a variation of a premises licence in respect of Reign, 215-217 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9HF.

The Licensing Officer provided an outline of the application to the Sub-Committee and confirmed that the Metropolitan Police had withdrawn their representation following discussions with the applicant.

Mr Kolvin, representing the applicant, explained that the applicant had submitted a similar application in August 2017 which sought to vary condition 55 to extend the last entry time to 01:30 hours. At that time the Sub-Committee had refused the variation to condition 55 as it wanted the Premises to demonstrate first that it was a responsible operator who could successfully promote the licensing objectives. Two Temporary Event Notices (TENs) had also come before the Sub-Committee in October 2017 due to a fault with the Premises ID scanner. The two TENs had requested a last entry time of 01:30 and the Sub-Committee had granted these as it recognised the well-run nature of the Premises and the fact it had joined Westminster City Council’s Best Bar None scheme. Since the applicant had been operating the Premises a total of twenty-one TENs had now been allowed to proceed with a last entry time of 01:30. During their operation no complaints had been received from local residents, no responsible authorities had objected to the events and no evidence had been provided that it would undermine the licensing objectives.

Mr Kolvin highlighted that the one residential representation received was from a resident based in Eagle Place. Eagle Place was located further down the street from the Premises and there was no evidence that any noise experienced by the resident was created from customers of the Premises. Efforts had been made to contact the resident on several occasions but these had proven unsuccessful. The applicant was aware of the importance of maintaining good relations with local residents.

In response to a question from the Sub-Committee Mr Chester confirmed that there had been an incident with the Premises ID scanner during an operation of a TEN. It was a system fault which had been subsequently detected at other Premises and as a result the applicant had implemented more intense, thorough manual ID checks.

The Licensing Sub-Committee had regard to the written submissions from the local resident and the oral and written submissions of the applicant, including a detailed additional statement. After careful consideration the Sub-Committee agreed to grant the application. The applicant had been provided with an opportunity to prove it could effectively operate a last entry time to the Premises of 01:30 whilst promoting the licensing objectives which it had subsequently done. The Sub-Committee was of the opinion that as a total of twenty-one TENs had been operated successfully with a last entry time of 01:30 this provided sufficient evidence of the well-run operation in place. It was recognised that no representations had been received from the responsible authorities and there was no evidence of any nuisance or crime and disorder arising from the Premises. The applicant had demonstrated their ability for the condition to be relaxed and it was therefore considered on balance that it was reasonable, appropriate and proportionate to amend condition 55.

Conditions attached to the Licence

Mandatory Conditions

1. No supply of alcohol may be made at a time when there is no designated premises supervisor in respect of this licence.

2. No supply of alcohol may be made at a time when the designated premises supervisor does not hold a personal licence or the personal licence is suspended.

3. Every supply of alcohol under this licence must be made or authorised by a person who holds a personal licence.

4. (1) The responsible person must ensure that staff on relevant premises do not carry out, arrange or participate in any irresponsible promotions in relation to the premises.

(2) In this paragraph, an irresponsible promotion means any one or more of the following activities, or substantially similar activities, carried on for the purpose of encouraging the sale or supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises—

(a) games or other activities which require or encourage, or are designed to require or encourage, individuals to;

(i) drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit (other than to drink alcohol sold or supplied on the premises before the cessation of the period in which the responsible person is authorised to sell or supply alcohol), or

(ii) drink as much alcohol as possible (whether within a time limit or otherwise);

(b) provision of unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee to the public or to a group defined by a particular characteristic in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;

(c) provision of free or discounted alcohol or any other thing as a prize to encourage or reward the purchase and consumption of alcohol over a period of 24 hours or less in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;

(d) selling or supplying alcohol in association with promotional posters or flyers on, or in the vicinity of, the premises which can reasonably be considered to condone, encourage or glamorise anti-social behaviour or to refer to the effects of drunkenness in any favourable manner;

(e) dispensing alcohol directly by one person into the mouth of another (other than where that other person is unable to drink without assistance by reason of a disability).

5. The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.

6. (1) The premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder must ensure that an age verification policy is adopted in respect of the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.

(2) The designated premises supervisor in relation to the premises licence must ensure that the supply of alcohol at the premises is carried on in accordance with the age verification policy.

(3) The policy must require individuals who appear to the responsible person to be under 18 years of age (or such older age as may be specified in the policy) to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and either—

(a) a holographic mark, or

(b) an ultraviolet feature.

7. The responsible person must ensure that—

(a) where any of the following alcoholic drinks is sold or supplied for consumption on the premises (other than alcoholic drinks sold or supplied having been made up in advance ready for sale or supply in a securely closed container) it is available to customers in the following measures—

(i) beer or cider: ½ pint;

(ii) gin, rum, vodka or whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml; and

(iii) still wine in a glass: 125 ml;

(b) these measures are displayed in a menu, price list or other printed material which is available to customers on the premises; and

(c) where a customer does not in relation to a sale of alcohol specify the quantity of alcohol to be sold, the customer is made aware that these measures are available.

A responsible person in relation to a licensed premises means the holder of the premise licence in respect of the premises, the designated premises supervisor (if any) or any individual aged 18 or over who is authorised by either the licence holder or designated premises supervisor. For premises with a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity that which enables him to prevent the supply of alcohol.

8(i) A relevant person shall ensure that no alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on or off the premises for a price which is less than the permitted price.

8(ii) For the purposes of the condition set out in paragraph 8(i) above -

(a) "duty" is to be construed in accordance with the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979;

(b) "permitted price" is the price found by applying the formula -

P = D+(DxV)

Where -

(i) P is the permitted price,

(ii) D is the amount of duty chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the duty were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol, and

(iii) V is the rate of value added tax chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the value added tax were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol;

(i) the holder of the premises licence,

(ii) the designated premises supervisor (if any) in respect of such a licence, or

(iii) the personal licence holder who makes or authorises a supply of alcohol under such a licence;

(d) "relevant person" means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity which enables the member or officer to prevent the supply in question; and

(e) "value added tax" means value added tax charged in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

8(iii). Where the permitted price given by Paragraph 8(ii)(b) above would (apart from this paragraph) not be a whole number of pennies, the price given by that sub-paragraph shall be taken to be the price actually given by that sub-paragraph rounded up to the nearest penny.

8(iv). (1) Sub-paragraph 8(iv)(2) below applies where the permitted price given by Paragraph 8(ii)(b) above on a day ("the first day") would be different from the permitted price on the next day ("the second day") as a result of a change to the rate of duty or value added tax.

(2) The permitted price which would apply on the first day applies to sales or supplies of alcohol which take place before the expiry of the period of 14 days beginning on the second day.

9. All persons guarding premises against unauthorised access or occupation or against outbreaks of disorder or against damage (door supervisors) must be licensed by the Security Industry Authority.

Additional Conditions

10. From 21:00 until 30 minutes after close of business, a minimum of 2 SIA licensed door staff to be stationed at the entrance on Piccadilly whose tasks will include:

o Reminding customers that this is a residential area and to respect the needs of neighbours

o To maintain an orderly queue where necessary

o To ask customers leaving the premises to do so quickly and quietly.

11. No noise shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises which gives rise to a nuisance.

12. The number of persons accommodated at any one time (excluding staff) shall not exceed the following: Mezzanine- 140 persons; Basement Auditorium – 300 persons. Maximum capacity of 400 persons on the premises at any one time. A minimum of 50 seats will be provided in the mezzanine area and a minimum of 250 seats will be provided in the basement auditorium.

13. A staff member from the premises who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the premises at all times when the premises is open. This staff member must be able to provide a Police or authorised council officer copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.

14. An incident log shall be kept at the premises, and made available on request to an authorised officer of the City Council or the Police. It must be completed within 24 hours of the incident and will record the following:

(a) all crimes reported to the venue

(b) all ejections of patrons

(d) any incidents of disorder

(e) all seizures of drugs or offensive weapons

(f) any faults in the CCTV system, searching equipment or scanning equipment

(g) any refusal of the sale of alcohol

(h) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.

15. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Westminster Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the preceding 31 day period.

16. After 23.00hrs all security employed at the premises shall wear high viz jackets or tabards.

17. Patrons permitted to temporarily leave and then re-enter the premises, e.g. to smoke, shall not be permitted to take drinks or glass containers with them.

18. In the event that a serious assault is committed on the premises (or appears to have been committed) the management will immediately ensure that: (a) The Police (and where appropriate, the London Ambulance Service) are called without delay, using emergency telephone number 999; (b) All measures that are reasonably practicable are taken to apprehend any suspects pending the arrival of the Police; (c) As is reasonably practicable, the crime scene is preserved so as to enable a full forensic investigation to be carried out by the Police; and (d) Such other measures are taken (as appropriate) to fully protect the safety of all persons present on the premises." 'Serious assault' includes (but is not limited to) any assault in which emergency medical treatment is required and any assault in which a weapon is used.

19. No children under the age of 16 shall be permitted on the premises after 21:00 hours.

20. No children under the age of 14 shall be admitted on the premises.

21. There shall be no striptease or nudity, and all persons shall be decently attired at all times, except when the premises are operating under the authority of a Sexual Entertainment Venue licence.

22. The highway in the vicinity of the premises shall be swept at regular intervals and also at the close of business. Litter and sweepings collected shall be stored in accordance with the approved refuse storage arrangement.

23. No unauthorised advertisements of any kind shall be inscribed or affixed upon the surface of the highway, or upon any building, structure, works, street furniture, tree or any other property, or is distributed to the public, that advertises or promotes the establishment, its premises or any of its events, facilities, goods and services.

24. No payment shall be made by or on behalf of the premises for distribution of flyers or tickets within public areas in the Licensing District of Westminster.

25. A daily log is to be maintained to ensure that any capacity limit set for the various floors and the overall capacity of the premises is recorded hourly and can be properly monitored. Information regarding the capacity will be given to an authorised officer or Police Officer on request.

26. Alcohol may not be sold or supplied to persons admitted after 23:00 other than to:

(a) Persons taking a table meal; or

(b) Persons who have paid a minimum admission fee of at least £20 for performance based entertainment (not to be credited against consumables)

(c) Persons who have paid a minimum annual membership fee of at least £450 payable in advance for music, dancing and entertainment (not to be credited against consumables) and up to a maximum of 4 bona fide guests. A list of all people who have paid an annual membership fee and their guests will be held at reception for inspection by relevant authority; or

(d) Persons given free membership and their bona fide guests where there has been an interval of at least 48 hours between application for membership. A list of all persons who have free membership will be held at reception for inspection by the relevant authority; or

(e) Persons who are bona fide guests of the license holder or management, a list of whom shall be kept at reception for inspection by the relevant authorities; or

(f) Artistes and persons employed by the premises; or

(g) persons attending at private function; the function organiser's name and address to be kept at reception for inspection by the relevant authorities.

27. Substantial food and non-intoxicating beverages, including water, shall be available throughout the permitted hours in all parts of the premises where intoxicating liquor is sold and supplied for consumption on the premises.

28. The sale and consumption of alcohol must be ancillary to the use of the premises for patrons attending performance based entertainment.

29. No payment shall be made by or on behalf of the licensees to any persons bringing customers into the premises.

30. A noise limiter located in a separate and remote lockable cabinet from the volume control must be fitted to the musical amplification system set at a level

determined by and to the satisfaction of an authorised officer of the Environmental Health Service's Community Protection Department so as to ensure that no noise nuisance is caused to local residents or businesses. The operational panel of the noise limiter shall then be secured to the satisfaction of officers from the Environmental Health Service. The keys securing the noise limiter cabinet shall be held by the applicant only, and shall not be accessed by any other person. The limiter shall not be altered without prior agreement with the Environmental Health Service.

31. No alteration or modification to any existing sound system(s) should be effected without prior knowledge of an authorised Officer of the Environmental Health Service.

32. Any additional sound generating equipment shall not be used on the premises without being routed through the sound limiter device.

33. All entrance doors to be kept closed except for people's immediate access and egress.

34. No speakers shall be located in the entrance area.

35. All refuse will be paid, properly presented and placed on the street 30 minutes before any agreed collection time. Every endeavour will be made to prevent refuse being left on the street for more than 2.5 hours.

36. No bottles will be moved, removed or placed in outside areas between 23:00 and 08:00.

37. No persons shall give at the premises any exhibition, demonstration or performance of hypnotism, mesmerism or any similar act or process which produces or is intended to produce in any other person any form of induced sleep or trance in which susceptibility of the mind of that person to suggestion or direction is increased or intended to be increased.

NOTE: This rule does not apply to exhibitions given under the provisions of Section 2(1A) and 5 of the Hypnotism Act 1952.

38. The approved arrangements at the premises, including means of escape provisions, fire warning and fire fighting equipment, the electrical installation and mechanical equipment, shall at all material times be maintained in good condition and full working order.

39. The certificates listed below shall be submitted to the Licensing Authority annually:

(a) Any emergency lighting battery or system

(b) Any electrical installation

40. The means of escape provided for the premises shall be maintained unobstructed, free of trip hazards, be immediately available and clearly identified in accordance with the plans provided.

41. All exit doors shall be available at all times without the use of a key, code, card or similar means.

42. All fire doors shall be maintained effectively self-closing and not half open other than by an approved device.

43. Fire doors to ducts, service shafts and cupboards shall be kept locked shut.

44. The edges of the treads and steps and stairways shall be maintained so as to be conspicuous.

45. Only hanging, curtains, upholstery and temporary decorations, complying with the relevant British Standard shall be used. Where necessary these shall be periodically tested for flame resistance and re-treated as necessary.

46. Curtains and hangings shall be arranged so as not to obstruct fire safety signs, fire extinguishers or other fire fighting equipment.

47. Staff with specific responsibilities in the vent of fire or other emergency, together with deputies, shall receive training and written instruction appropriate to their role.

48. Any special effects or mechanical installations shall be arranged and sorted so as to minimise any risk to the safety of those using the premises. The following special effects will only be used on 10 days prior notice being given to the Licensing Authority where consent has not previously been given:

- dry ice and cryogenic fog

- smoke machines and generators

- pyrotechnics and fog generators

- firearms

- lasers

- explosives and highly flammable substances

- real flame

- strobe lighting.

49. Flashing or particularly bright lights on or outside the premises will not be permitted to cause a nuisance to nearby properties (save insofar as they are necessary for the prevention or crime).

50. After 21:00, at least one Personal License Holder shall be on duty on the premises while alcohol is being sold or supplied.

51. A minimum of two SIA staff shall be deployed with Body Worn Video, capable

of recording audio and video in any light condition. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the preceding 31-day period.

52. There shall be an electronic search arch installed at the premises and every patron entering or re-entering the premises when in use under this licence (including from the smoking area) shall pass through the search arch with searching supplemented by the use of two functional metal detecting wands. Patrons shall be searched by an SIA-trained member of staff and monitored and recorded by the premises CCTV system.

53 (a) All customers entering the premises shall have their ID scanned on entry, save for when a biometric scanning system is in place (when fingerprint scanning will be required for all customers who have previously shown identification at the premises). The details recorded shall include a live facial image capture of the customer and capture the photographic identification produced. The details recorded by the ID scanner system shall be made available to the Police and the local authority upon request.

(b) The above requirement (a) is subject to the following exception, namely that a maximum number of 20 guests per night may be admitted at the Managers discretion without necessarily being ID scanned and recorded. A legible record (the Signing in Sheet) of these guests' names shall be retained on the premises for inspection by the licensing authority and Police for a period of 31 days. The name of manager authorising the admission will also be recorded by that manager. Guests shall be required to produce some form of ID such as a bank card (or emailed electronic photo I D) and an ID scan entry with a live photo shall be created.

(c) Notwithstanding (a) and (b) above, patrons who are attending a pre-booked corporate event at the premises do not need to have their ID scanned on entry and instead a written guest list shall be held at reception for the event, and will be retained for 28 days after the event for inspection by the police and responsible authorities upon request.

54. All drinking containers used within the premises shall be polycarbonate. All glass bottles to be decanted into polycarbonate glassware or polycarbonate glassware carafes, with the exception of champagne and bottles of spirits of a minimum size of 70cl, supplied by waiter/waitress service to tables. Staff will clear all empty champagne and spirit bottles from the tables promptly. Customers will not be permitted to self-serve or remove bottles from the tables. Customers will not be permitted to drink directly from champagne or spirit bottles.

Notwithstanding this condition, with the written agreement of the Westminster Police Licensing Team, a copy of which will be held at the premises reception, glass drinking vessels may be used for private or pre-booked events within the lounge/club area.

55. There shall be no entry or re-entry (excluding persons from the smoking area) to the premises after 01:30 or such time as agreed in writing by the Westminster Police Licensing Unit (and a copy of any agreement to be held at reception).

56. Risk reduction training inclusive of crime scene preservation shall be carried out by 2 February 2017 and refresher training every 6 months thereafter.

57. A minimum of one SIA licensed door supervisor to twenty-five customers shall be on duty at the premises whenever it is open for business.

58. Impartial unannounced compliance visits shall take place at the premises on a monthly basis. A written record of each visit shall be kept at the premises and produced for immediate inspection by a police officer or authorised officer of the licensing authority.

59. The premises shall provide a cloakroom and all coats and outdoor jackets shall be placed in the cloakroom by handing them to an attendant who shall be constantly on duty at the cloakroom during the whole time that the premises are open.

60. There shall be live, real-time CCTV monitoring of the premises at all times the premises is open for business except when the premises is being used exclusively for a private pre-booked event.

61. There shall be a dedicated search captain employed at the premises to supervise the searching of customers at all times when the premises are open.

62. a. No licensable activities shall take place on lower level 2 (basement auditorium) and in the toilet area and DJ booth on lower level 1 (mezzanine) of the premises until these areas of the premises have been assessed as satisfactory by the Environmental Health Consultation Team at which time this condition shall be removed from the Licence by the licensing authority.

b. No licensable activities shall take place in the trading room/bar on lower level 1 (mezzanine) of the premises until this area of the premises has been assessed as satisfactory by the Environmental Health Consultation Team at which time this condition shall be removed from the Licence by the licensing authority.

c. Prior to the licence taking effect, the plans as deposited will be checked by the Environmental Health Consultation Team to ensure they are accurate reflection of the premises constructed. Where the premises layout has changed during the course of construction new plans shall be provided to the LFEPA, Environmental Health Consultation Team, the Police and the Licensing Authority.

Supporting documents:

Reign 215-217 Piccadilly W1, item 5. PDF 5 MB