Bar managers today attacked a late-night “booze levy” in Hackney they say will drive business away.
From tomorrow pubs, clubs and shops in the borough will be forced to pay up to £1,473 per year to serve alcohol between midnight and 6am, on top of their licensing fees.
Traders in the minimum band for business rates will be expected to pay £299 to keep serving after midnight.Hackney council says it aims to cut anti-social behaviour and raise £400,000 a year from the charge to fund police and council enforcement officers.
Josh Neal, of the Haggerston in Dalston, said: “This puts me right off doing my job. I agree with having more police and enforcement officers, but we can’t afford it. We’ll probably have to cut staff hours, maybe jobs. It seems unfair that independent businesses are going to feel the pinch.”
David Mofford, co-director of the Looking Glass Cocktail Club in Shoreditch, said: “This will drive businesses like us away. It’s one of those Kafka-esque nightmares, another nail in the coffin.”
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said: “This is an extremely retrograde action. It will heap costs on vital businesses and is likely to have a disastrous effect for employers.”
However some bar managers backed the idea. Angus McLeod, of the Dolphin, said he believed it could make the Mare Street area safer. “We could do with more preventative measures and more policing,” he added.
Hackney said the levy, which has been trialled by 40 businesses across Dalston for five years, was “central” to addressing anti-social behaviour. Guy Nicholson, cabinet member for planning, business and investment, said: “It will help pay for more officers and street cleaners into the early hours.”
Borough police commander Simon Lawrence said he would welcome extra funds “to help keep Hackney a safe place to live, work and enjoy”.
