To appoint a Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Councillor Bhangra proposed that Councillor Haseler be Chair for the duration if the meeting. This was seconded by Councillor Brar.

AGREED: That Councillor Haseler be Chair for the duration of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Brar declared that she was a licensee within the borough.

To note the procedural details for the meeting.

All parties present noted the procedures.

To consider the application to review the premises license for ‘Jagz Ltd trading as Drinks and Flair, Station Hill, Ascot, SL5 9EG’.

Greg Nelson, Reporting Officer for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, began by stating that the two representatives of Jagz Ltd, that had attended the hearing were looking for there to be an adjournment of the meeting. He said that it would be timely to hear the reasons for this before any further persons spoke at the meeting. Other parties and the panel would then be able to ask questions and share their thoughts on what had been discussed. The Chair agreed that this was the best way forward and invited the representatives of Jagz Ltd to address the panel.

Philip Haywood & Candice Curtis, representatives on behalf of Jagz Ltd, explained the current situation to the panel. They said that they currently held a 10% stake in the company known as Jagz Ltd and that they were the new management of the premises. They took control of the running and management of the premises on 2 December 2022, from the majority shareholder, Natasha Tah.

In time, they were seeking to turn the premises into a member’s club, having been in that business for around 40 years already. They requested an adjournment of the meeting until a time when they had 100% ownership of the business, which had started but of course took time due to a legal process having to be followed. Since December 2022, they were adamant that the conditions on the license had all been met and that they would continue to be followed until such a time where variations could be discussed.

Richard Ferguson, Regional Manager of the site since July 2022 confirmed the current situation that had just been outlined. He stated that he was in support of the plan that had been proposed and that the current lease was a rolling one.

Councillor Brar asked how long he had known about the issues surrounding the premises under the management of Natasha Tah. He replied by saying that he knew about the issues quite early on in July 2022, when he arrived. He said that he was looking forward to working with a new entity.

Alex Lisowski, RBWM Licensing Enforcement Officer and Applicant, asked when the earliest was that the lease could end. He replied by saying that when the lease came to an end, it would go into statutory continuation, where it would continue on the current terms.

Alex Lisowki stated that he was opposed to an adjournment of the meeting. This was because the deal that was in place to change ownership of the premises had not yet been signed and delivered. Therefore, this could mean that Natasha Tah, remained as the majority shareholder of the business and that she could also re-take control of the premises’ management. Natasha Tah was the majority shareholder, and she held a minimum of 75% of overall shareholdings. This allowed her to have the power to depose both Philip Haywood & Candice Curtis as she was also the leaseholder of the premises. Councillor Brar asked for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.