A long-running dispute with council bosses that ultimately led to the closure of a Newcastle restaurant has cost the business at least £500,000, its owners claim.
Popular pan-Asian eatery Geisha shocked customers last week when it announced that its Jesmond site had shut down, with the venture relocating to a new base in Benton. In a widely-shared Facebook post, bosses confirmed the closure of the Sandyford Road restaurant and alleged that they had been “victimised, persecuted and bullied” by Newcastle City Council.
It follows a series of rows over add-ons to the site which had been erected before planning permission was secured and subsequently had to be torn down, while the local authority has insisted that the allegations against it were made “without any evidence”. The restaurant’s owners have now told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the prolonged battle has had a major financial impact.
Read More: Popular Geisha restaurant in Jesmond shuts its doors amid claims it has been 'persecuted' by council
John-Paul Gardner and Gary Clark said the combination of a loss of earnings from a disputed outdoor seating area, building costs, architectural designs, and planning consultants’ fees totalled more than half a million pounds. The pair claimed that repeated disagreements with the council since opening in 2020 left them feeling “deliberately targeted”.
After being told to remove a porch area built at the front of Geisha, the business owners failed in an appeal to the Government’s planning inspectorate to try and retain it. They later erected a new porch without a canopy last year, which they say they believed was likely to be granted planning permission, but the local authority again rejected this – branding it “inappropriate” and “obtrusive”.
Mr Gardner, aged 51, has now vowed that he “won’t operate in Newcastle again” after the battle, with recently-published designs for another dramatic redevelopment of the Jesmond site having been abandoned. He said: “The outside area lost us 30 covers and that was the profit for the business. We lost so much money in 2022 waiting for the planning permission.
“We kept our chefs, we kept our staff – we were making a loss but we expected to recoup the money once the outside was sorted. A lot of our staff are students and it is vital that they have part-time jobs, which we were creating for them on their doorstep. We have lost half a million pounds, at least.”
City planners wrote that Geisha’s outdoor developments were not in keeping with the conservation area of South Jesmond, though Mr Clark said the restaurant was “trying to make the area better” by revamping what was a former garage. The city council also ordered the removal of a large mural above the restaurant depicting traditional Japanese geishas, which Mr Clark admitted they had been “a bit naive” in painting.
Seeking to explain Geisha’s actions, the 54-year-old added: “Every penny counts for us. It’s alright if you are Costa Coffee and have a huge team behind you, you can wait six months for the planners to make a decision. But if we get a building, we have to be running from day one – we cannot afford to pay for it to be sat empty while the planners decide yes or no on something. The big multinationals can, that is why you see so many Costa Coffees and Greggs.
“There was nothing like us in Newcastle, a lot of the restaurants you see are generic and all look the same. We have tried to bring something totally unique but now we have been forced out.”
Geisha Italia Grill and a new Geisha Asia restaurant have now both opened at the former Casa Antonio building on Front Street, in Benton.
Repeating a statement first issued after Geisha’s initial accusations last week, a Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to read of the allegations that have been made, many of which are made without any evidence to support them. We have endeavoured to work proactively with the business owners to ensure they can operate successfully in accordance with the planning permission that they obtained.
“Formal enforcement action was taken in the summer of 2021 to remove unauthorised structures at the front of the premises. The business owners subsequently appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the Enforcement Notice and their appeal was dismissed in February 2022. The owners have now complied with the requirements of the Enforcement Notice.
“We always aim to work constructively with all businesses in the city, but we also have a duty to ensure all premises operate within the confines of the planning system.”
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