I think the problem here is that the council's approach in general can reek of inconsistency most of the time. The licensed trade is a very easy target. Initiatives that have been discussed or implemented in recent years include the smoking ban, banning of flyers, disallowing the advertising of irresponsible drink promotions (supermarkets??!!), fly-posting crackdowns (look at Edinburgh in the height of festival season) and extra policing funded by the licensed trade.
Here's a prime example of inconsistency, this sums up what we have to work with on a regular basis: Last New Year, we were invited by the council to join in the street party instead of being fenced off like the year before. We would have to agree not to sell advance tickets, since the council couldn't guarantee entry if the street party was at capacity. Considering we could have sold quite a few tickets before the night, guaranteeing us income, this was a major concession. We agreed however. Secondly we were asked to bring our pricing in line with the other premises within the boundary of the street party. The pricing policy the council adopted? Vodkas for £1.25. They chose Archibald Simpson's pricing policy and asked the other venues to reduce their's in line with this. We refused. One of the biggest nights of the year for underage drinking and drunk and disorderly morons let loose on the streets and we were asked to reduce our prices by 50%?!
I wonder where the staff of St. Nicholas House go for their afterwork drink?
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