Sunday night ‘no longer a school night’, claims restaurant in extended opening hours bid

Sunday’s best: Licensing committee considers Hoppers’ bid for longer opening hours

People are staying out later on Sunday nights because of the trend to work from home on Mondays, licensing bosses were told.

The pattern of not going into the office, following the lockdown message to work from home, means that diners are no longer treating Sunday nights as “school nights”, it appears.

Luke Elford, the lawyer for restaurant chain Hoppers, told Hackney’s licensing committee: “We have found that more people like to stay out later on a Sunday – we think because they are working from home on Monday.”

He said the “multi-award-winning” company, which has Michelin stars, had seen an increase in Sunday night custom “because they do not have to get up early in the morning for work the next day”.

The eatery, which serves Sri Lankan and south Indian-inspired dishes, is planning to open in a new building in Montacute Yards in Shoreditch High Street.

It has applied for a licence to serve alcohol between 10am and 11pm on Sundays to Thursdays, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Shoreditch is in a cumulative impact area because it has a high number of bars, clubs and restaurants.  The proposed Sunday opening hours are beyond the council’s core hours.

The licensing committee (16 March) wanted to know why the hours were requested and asked for assurances there would be no problems.

The council’s licensing department welcomed the suggestion that customers would not be served outside after 10pm.

Hoppers also asked to use tables and chairs on an outside terrace until 11pm, an hour later than the council’s policy normally allows.

Mr Elwood said the walled courtyard is neither overshadowed nor near any homes. There will be office space above the restaurant.

The parent company JKS Restaurants runs eateries Gymkhana, Brigadiers and Bao and already has experience running larger terraces like the one at the Kings Cross branch and has not had any problems.

“It is a food-led business. They know how to operate, they have an impeccable record and no complaints anywhere, ” said Mr Elwood.

He said the company had extensive experience in operating in cumulative impact areas, including Soho, “the most jealously guarded cumulative impact sites in the country”.

They also run Bao just across the road in Shoreditch, without any problems.

“They have not had so much as a cross word with any local authority. They have an impeccable record.”

He said the eatery “extremely robust and well-thought out conditions”.

The licensing committee has now granted Hoppers a licence.