mj1

To keep everyone updated. Today i had a meeting with West Mercia police regarding both applications. It was very open and productive. Whilst we are not always going to see eye to eye it is good that we can continue to work together and take everyone's opinions into account. As soon as the consultation period ends on both i will update you further but i feel more positive about moving forward and being able to show late night and early morning sporting events with proper conditions in place. We have also reached a compromise on Mamma Jammas which is suitable for all parties. I'm now going for a pint or 4!

As promised here is the latest update. Today i received notice that at this current time West Mercia Police have objected to both applications. Whilst this is disappointing myself, and my whole team, as always, will strive to work with them to find a compromise that fulfills the needs of the business, the police and makes sure the licensing objectives are not undermined. It is the second blow in a week as for the first time since AJs has been open we will not be showing the Superbowl as the police objected to our late TEN - they asked for our conditions to be applied, which we always agree to anyway - unfortunately once they objected the TEN was null and void as is the law. Finally 2 teams we wanted to see battle it out and we wont be able to. If i hear anything else i will update you.

Hi I have a vested interest in this as they are both my venues. I personally think it should be granted and then a statue erected for resurrecting a pretty run down Street in just 6 years. Seriously though sport venues are dying because of the high costs incurred from sky, bt sport, Box nation etc. Therefore we have to try and utilise the resource properly. From IPL cricket, the Ashes, Wrestlemania, the growing interest in sports series from around the world is huge. Unfortunately a lot are on after midnight and after 3 years of regularly showing sports we feel we have a large enough customer base to support this. This will also create a few extra jobs for bar staff, glass collectors and door supervisors. As for Mamma Jammas we are asking for one extra hour on the door on a Friday and Saturday for last entry. It'll be a year at the start of February since 2am started and I won't shout and yell it was wrong I will just say it happened. We live and learn and we move on. We've changed a lot. Door team, management and extra training and we believe we have a strong case. We offer something different to the rest of town, we're not about cheap shots and people voted off x factor. Any questions I'll try my best to answer

It's not about winning or losing it's about what's just. Unfortunately it's not opt in, it's compulsory - in fact they even pay the council £21.82 for each of the 482 premises eligible for collecting the money so to say the council don't get anything from it is ridiculous they probably clear £8000 easily. It's only for those over a certain size and has no relevance to where your business is in town. So basically a lot of independents and small businesses are very kindly paying to keep the centre of town clean for corporate businesses. Typical Hereford assuring that the corporations are well looked after at the expense of small local traders. In 6 months they have put posters up in 2 shops, spent £1000's on a giant hoover, hopefully have a website promoting Hereford by February and have picked up the slack of the council cleaning contracts. On a side note i fully understand we are stuck with it for 5 years so it's not about critisizing it's about holding them to account. To make sure they do what they said they would, making sure that they have no excuses and don't spend 5 years continually picking the pockets of the local traders with nothing but an over sized Dyson.

This is an unnecessary waste of money. I believe you have also missed the point in that why should I pay twice for street cleaning? Is it no longer included in my original business rates? A group of people, retailers, paid their rates and then had to pay again for the same service. Angry .... I was livid.

The BID is a secondary tax leveled at retailers in the city on top of the already monstrous business rates. The tax was raised and was supposed to increase tourism and business prosperity and so far it's put posters in some empty shop fronts and now appears to be taking on the role of street cleaning. This appears to be an exercise in wasting money. Surely there are much better ways to use the money than to buy a giant hoover for the city - a £10 broom from the J Mart would be just as effective and keep the electric bills down. Just for record a lot of voted against the BID for fear that it would become just an additional fundraiser for the council. Unfortunately this has now become the case. It also appears to be able to expertly waste money just like the council so fantastic.

This issue is not restricted to hereford. I'm keeping generally out of the situation as I am currently in review but there is a lot of interesting reading out there regarding venues with the latest licences http://m.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/11831732.Bridge_Street_licensing_dispute_set_to_rumble_on/?ref=twtrec

Let's have Mr Neades try his own advice and Yates stand firm and not allow any customers in after 10 - 1030 when restaurants finish. A good 2.5 hours before termination. If he agrees I will. I have not read such a must guided plan since ukip announced there immigration plans earlier this week. The world has changed. Our customers include his staff when they finish etc. The FACT 80% of our customer base after 2 are staff from other venues speaks volumes. Has Mr Neades himself not just applied for a last entry time of 1 for his pub?