Convenience chain New Kwiki Mart secures licence for new Hilsea store

Councillors have agreed to grant an alcohol licence to a new convenience store in Hilsea, despite concerns that its midnight end time could lead to problems of late-night anti-social behaviour in the area.

The Portsmouth City Council licensing sub-committee that met on Tuesday approved the full hours for the New Kwiki Mart on London Road on Fridays and Saturdays but said they would enforce an 11pm limit for the rest of the week.

“This is only, at this moment in time, a speculative decision,” chairman George Madgwick said. “We’ve made a decision that we will be granting the licence…to maintain the licensable activities that are consistent with the local area [in terms of timing].

“We aim to maintain consistency with the other local licensed premises within the area to be in parallel with the public house and other local facilities.”

Business owner Panchalingam Aranan, who runs 10 shops across the city, all of which have licences to sell alcohol, had applied for the licence to cover 6am to midnight seven days a week to facilitate the opening of his latest in the former Minuteman design shop at Forbes Court.

Last year his Albert Road store was banned from selling alcohol between 2am and 7am at a licensing hearing called to consider complaints it was fuelling anti-social behaviour.

His solicitor Jon Wallsgrove said it was not in the interests of the business to facilitate these issues and that Mr Aranan’s experience should allay concerns.

“Nobody’s going to want to shop if they’re having to walk through people who are causing a nuisance outside,” he said. “Mr Aranan is an experienced operator and he’s had shops in Portsmouth for the last 19 years.

“So, of course, he has to put in place proper due diligence within these stores to make sure that the objectives are promoted.”

He said the reduced hours would have an impact on the business which was designed to offer a “top up” for people above their weekly grocery shop and that it needed to open at “unsociable hours”.

“Alcohol does form a fundamental part of the convenience store concept but no more so than any of the other sort of fundamental products that you want to find in a convenience store,” he added. “All of those things are key elements to running a successful convenience store [but] without one of those elements the store doesn’t stand much chance of success.”