A birthday party for up to 400 people has been allowed by Manchester City Council despite the applicant previously holding an event with a false licence.
Empire House in Cheetham Hill will host the party next month for a 56-year-old where around 300 people are actually expected to show up. The event notice permits the party to take place with the sale of alcohol between 10pm and 4am.
Applicant Jayvon Morgan, who has a history of hosting different events in the area, was criticised by the Licensing Sub Committee for a previous event he held which went ahead without an approved licence from the council.
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Coun Carmine Grimshaw, chair of the committee, questioned the legitimacy of the party and the numbers due to show up at the venue, which has a capacity of 350 people.
“Explain this birthday party event,” Coun Grimshaw said. “Because I don’t think the most popular person I know could get 400 people at their party.
“I don’t think between me and the two other committee members here we could get that many.”
Mr Morgan explained he had run these types of events before but confirmed there would not be as many as 400 there, with 250-300 people being the maximum expected. Despite reassurances about queue management and security provision, the Licensing Out of Hours team (LOOH) could not sign off on the event and recommended refusal.
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The LOOH referenced the last event Mr Morgan held over May 19 and May 20 on Empire Street, in which they attended and were presented with a false temporary event notice (TEN) licence upon request, Manchester Town Hall heard. For this past 'mistake', which led to the event being cancelled just after 1am on the night, Mr Morgan’s new application was put in jeopardy as the committee assessed whether he had done this deliberately - which he denied.
At the hearing on June 23, the LOOH team said they were also concerned about the number of potential customers and the timings requested, saying it could lead to an increased likelihood of public nuisance issues. They referenced previous issues at the venue at kick-out time.
The night in question relates back to November 2022, which licensing representative for the applicant, Geoff Dixon, claimed was an issue between a delivery driver and punters outside the venue - not connected to Empire House. Despite initial concerns over safety at the event and the dispersal afterwards, both Mr Morgan and Mr Dixon did enough to convince the committee that Empire House could properly conduct this event.
Issuing a stern warning with his decision, licensing chair Coun Grimshaw, said: “We are going to grant the Temporary Event Notice on this occasion. I must tell you that it was a split decision.
“The behaviour and what you did previously is something we take very seriously. Personally I feel you’re very lucky here today.
“Good luck with the event and I hope they have a fantastic birthday party.”
