Stretford Foodhall was unable to sell alcohol on its premises for six weeks as bosses missed a deadline to renew the licence. The venue, which is part corner shop, part canteen, placed a notice on its bar stating that it could not serve booze due to a 'temporary situation'.
The food hall, part of the Store Group - known as CG Group since November - placed clingfilm across its bar taps and apologised for the disruption to its customers. A similar sign was placed on the door of Sale Foodhall, but added that customers could bring their own booze at a cost of £5 per table.
The Store Group and now the CG Group, is behind the popular General Store brand which has several general stores and food halls across Greater Manchester including Stretford and Sale food halls. The signs were first noticed in early November, however Trafford council confirmed that the business missed an October deadline to renew its alcohol licence after the Stretford Foodhall went into liquidation on September 28.
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A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: “The previous licence holders went into liquidation on September 28, 2022, and the new licence holder was given 28 days to transfer the licence. However, the deadline was missed meaning a new application was required.
“The application has been submitted but has a 28 day consultation period which in this case, ends on December 2, 2022. Within this time no licensable activities can be undertaken unless a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) is submitted.
"A TEN is a standalone licensing permission which allows licensable activities for up to seven consecutive days. After this period, there needs to be a 24 hour break before a new TEN can be submitted for the next seven days.”
Trafford Council also confirmed the total number of days the company were unable to sell alcohol for after September 28 was 42. The alcohol licence has now been granted and Stretford Foodhall can now serve alcohol on its premises again.
The filing history on Companies House indicates that Mr Morar dissolved the several companies under the Store Group Umbrella in September and terminated his appointment as director, before setting up the companies again under the CG Group in mid-November.
Commenting on the licence issue at Stretford FoodHall, which has now been resolved, Mital Morar said: "As we traverse this year we have had difficulties and continue to do so. But also we try and do the best for the business and the colleagues in it. After the closure of companies the ‘admin issue’ was a misjudgement to transfer the licences.
"Coincidently they are being approved this week and we can trade again as normal. It has been a challenge but we have navigated through."
The first General Store opened in Ancoats in 2017, catering for the growing number of residents moving into the old mills and warehouses in the neighbourhood. As well as groceries, it also featured a bar, a post office and revolving food operators.
It quickly expanded its business to encompass food halls too, opening branches in Stretford Mall and then another more recently in Sale’s Stanley Square development. Both feature a General Store inside, as well as a range of food retailers.
Owner Mital Morar has been bringing together food and retail since the days of STORE! in Castlefield, which he expanded to open The Banyan Tree restaurant and bar alongside it, and later Superstore, a Northern Quarter restaurant with a convenience store tucked below. After selling Superstore, he went on to open Ancoats General Store.
In September it was confirmed that the Salford General Store, on New Bailey Street would shutter. Commenting at the time, Mital Morar said: "After exceptionally difficult trading conditions throughout the past two years, the addition of the latest economic pressures in 2022, including the energy crisis, have led us to implement a major restructure of the business in order to protect jobs and to continue to trade.
"As part of this process we have closed one of our stores.” The company added that its other sites remain open, including the General Stores in Ancoats, Castlefield, Deansgate Square, Media City and Moss Side.
He added: "We have been working hard throughout what has been a very difficult period for the business to ensure that all of our other sites remain open and we are grateful that none of our hard working colleagues have been affected."
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