Following the success of four popular Mother Mercy cocktail bars in Newcastle, Sintons were delighted to assist with the licensing needs for the latest Mother Mercy venue which has recently opened in Durham.
The Silver Street venue promises to bring an excellent cocktail offering to Durham and Mother Mercy Managing Director Neil Donachie says, “We are incredibly lucky that Mother Mercy has achieved the success it has in Newcastle. We put this down to two main things: the quality of our cocktails and the passion of our teams in delivering consistently amazing service. We hope that we can complement the already growing, exciting hospitality offer in Durham city centre.”
Partner Sarah Smith leads the Licensing team at Sintons. Sarah outlines the factors which she had to be aware of when making applications for Mother Mercy: “The venue lies within the historic city centre of Durham and is surrounded by residents living above commercial premises. We had to be conscious of the concerns of both the Environmental Health Officer (EHO) and the Parish Council, but we were able to reach a compromise that was acceptable to both them and our client.”
Pavement licence
Sarah was able to call upon her previous experience to negotiate a pavement licence so Mother Mercy’s customers can enjoy al fresco cocktails. She explains, “In addition to addressing the potential for noise nuisance from the venue we also needed to carefully consider the impact of any external seating on the very narrow, cobbled street. The Police initially objected to the pavement licence we wanted due to the narrow nature of the street. Our knowledge of the law on both premises and pavement licences, and our experience in negotiating with officers, led to both applications being granted.”
Sintons are proud to have obtained multiple licences for all the Mother Mercy sites using the Licensing team’s expertise. Neil adds, “There is no doubt that we would not have ended up with the licensing terms and framework we eventually received if it was not for Sarah’s unparalleled skill set. Sarah has advised and supported us in all our licensing applications for the past seven years. Her guidance has been invaluable and will have a measurable impact on our potential success.”
Mother Mercy, Silver Street, Durham city centre DH1 3RB
Instagram: @mothermercybar
For licensing enquiries, click here.
