Sintons achieve licence for Mimo’s Cocktail Bar

A Newcastle cocktail bar has marked the end of its first year by expanding, and has been helped in securing the licence for the venture by Sintons.

Cocktail bar, Mimo, in Pudding Chare opened in July 2011 as one of Newcastle’s premier Tiki cocktail bars serving a variety of rum based cocktails in a Miami- beach inspired luxury setting with a stylised beach terrace.

A joint venture between well-established North East Bar Operator and Hotelier Tony Knox and Entrepreneur and singer Recardo Patrick, a revamp of £500,000 was spent on a revamp of the business.

After successfully spending the first year establishing Mimo as a credible cocktail venue, Tony and Riccardo wanted to move to phase 2 which was to develop a much larger first floor of the building, which runs across the top of Revolution bar and is intended to be a quirky addition to the Diamond Strip.

To be able to extend the bar, they had to apply for a new premises licence to permit alcohol sales and entertainment at first floor level. By creating more floor space they would be able to offer their customers a more comfortable venue and a separate function area.

Tony and Recardo sought the advice of licensing specialist, Sarah Smith, Partner in Sintons’ Licensing team. The application was far from straight forward as the premises lie within the Special Stress Area of the Cumulative Impact Policy Area as defined by Newcastle City Council’s Licensing Policy. That meant that if any objection was made to the application the licence would only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

Through extensive discussion and negotiation, Sarah convinced the Police and Environmental Health Officers of the Council that there would be no negative impact on the Licensing Objectives if the licence was granted. By pointing out that the venue only had one reported incident in its first year trading, the Licensing Committee were persuaded that the application should be granted, despite the concerns raised by two local residents.

Tony Knox commented “I have a longstanding relationship with Sarah who is an expert in her field. All we can do is make most convincing application we can. After that we then rely on an enlightened approach from authorities to recognise that new independent businesses can be a benefit to the city.”

Sarah Smith commented “We were delighted to help Tony and Recardo in achieving the licence they needed to enhance their business. Any application in the Special Stress Area is difficult but with careful deliberation and discussion it can be achieved. It is vital for successful businesses to be able to enhance their operations in these difficult times. The Council Policies are not there to restrict development of business but to prevent any negative impact on the Licensing Objectives.